Dar luz aos textos, silenciar as vozes “des”-

conhecimento e distanciamento em processos de construção da “música portuguesa” (1939-59)

Abstract

This paper proposes an analysis of the process of silencing the music sound recordings of oral traditions carried out in Portugal between 1936 and 1959. It focuses on field recordings made under the auspices of institutions of the autocratic regime of the Estado Novo, the period of the provincial authorities (1936-39), during which an extensive process of mapping traits, taken as definer of the Portuguese culture, was carried out.The sound recordings, after enormous human and economic investments made in its implementation, were silenced and remained unpublished until the present day. What were the political strategies that presided over these accomplishments, who were theprotagonists, which collected and the contents that were silenced, are the questions under debate. I aim to explore the themes of text versus sound, seeing versus listening. Drawing on Michel Foucault's concept of epistemological field (2005), I intend to revealthemodus operandithat influenced implicitly the process that led to the silencing ofthousands of sound records. Finally, and sustained by the contributions of the philosopher Jacques Rancière (2010), I open up a discussion on the potential dissensus that might be prompted by the listening of those sound records.