O trabalhador e o jogo do trabalho nos galpões de alegorias dos bois-bumbás de Parintins

Abstract

This thesis considers the purpose of verifying the sociocultural meanings of the work activity placed in the allegories sheds of the Boi-Bumbá from Parintins, seeking to have a sense that the work is like a game that is based in pleasure, commitment, happiness, pain, suffering and anguish - feelings presented in the the daily routine of the workers who create and recreate themselves in this process. It induced us to make a rereading of the social notion of work brought by modernity, based in the factory and division of the tasks, from each specialty, to focus on the Amazonian men and the multiplicities of their way of life that interferes in their artistic job. The research assumed the theoretical-methodological contribution of the human and social sciences, in a perspective of 'History From Below', anchored in the concept of Thompson, based on empirical data and oral sources. The experiences of the workers from the sheds of allegories of Parintins' bois-bumbás were analyzed, seeking to compose another history and a new local social context, restoring in the field of research subjects (still) recently neglected by historiography. The main site of our research was places on the sheds where the costumes and allegories of Bois-Bumbás Caprichoso and Garantido are produced, both located in the city of Parintins, in the Amazonas state. In these sheds there are workers like blacksmiths, welders, sculptors, painters, artisans and collaborators. People who composed our sample and who provided us with subsidies to construct another understanding about the worker and the work at the boi-bumbá party. One of the many verified results was the fact that the work in the sheds of the bois-bumbás of Parintins is seen by the workers as a competitive game, involving playfulness and rivalry, at the same time as these workers do not fail to claim their labor rights, expressing their nonconformity and salary dissatisfaction with a type of work that involves risks and precariousness, and that allowed us to see similarities and contradictions existing in the work of the shed with other types of work. In this way, we highlight the importance of the artists of the bois-bumbás sheds that in their work play for the pleasure of competing, and in this way, they still build and reinforce a regional identity. These conclusions point to the fact that the silencing of each move is easily confused with conformism, and the isolation necessary for artistic creation is sometimes interpreted as lacking the courage to fight for their rights. But acting like this is necessary, a lot of people still want to get into that game, and there is an army of standby artists in their way, which benefits high-level directors and artists, while hampering the improvement of pay and working conditions in the boi-bumbá sheds.