“A arma que eu tinha era fazer música”: o movimento punk como estilo de vida e expressão política em Aracaju

Abstract

The purpose of this work is to analyze how the punk movement in the city of Aracaju, capital of the state of Sergipe, structures itself as a lifestyle in which political expression can be conveyed through art. The research's guiding questions were: to what extent can punk be understood as a lifestyle and a form of artivism? How is this lifestyle expressed in the city of Aracaju? And how did it change since its early years for different generations of punks? The methodology was based on a review of the literature on urban and youth cultures, the punk movement, lifestyles and political participation, on a survey of data on the manifestations of the punk scene in Aracaju, on the direct observation of shows and events organized by the scene, and on the use of content analysis and the documentary method of interpretation for the analysis of their respective artistic productions. The text is divided into four chapters: the first one presents a discussion on new cultural identities in the midst of post-modernity and globalization, as well as on the emergence of punk in the global North and in Brazil; the second chapter brings an in-depth study on punk in Aracaju, the formation process of the local scene and its internal dynamics; the third chapter deals with questions about gender, generation and spatiality; and the fourth and final chapter brings an analysis of the do-it-yourself ethos and of art as a vehicle of political expression for punk in Aracaju. Based on the discussions carried out in this dissertation, it was possible to conclude that urban/youth cultures are inserted as identity groups that present specific demands in contemporary societies, and that artistic production can occupy a central role in their modalities of political activism - which could be seen from different perspectives in the punk movement in Aracaju.