Research at the University of Bologna (Universita di Bologna)/Italy: popular (folk) culture in Gramsci.

• Grant number: 17/16542-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: January 01, 2018
• End date: February 15, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Linguistics, Literature and Arts - Literature
• Principal Investigator: Ivan Francisco Marques
• Grantee: Lígia Rodrigues Balista
• Supervisor: Roberto Vecchi
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Università di Bologna, Italy
• Associated to the scholarship: 14/16619-2 - The figure of rural Brazilian man in Carlos Alberto Soffredini's play, BP.DR

Abstract

This research seeks to understand the idea of popular culture in Gramsci's studies and in particular, the notion of popular literature. The wider research project in Brazil investigates a playwright considered by many as "popular". Many aspects of popular culture are identified in his writings (including characters, language and popular dialects, folklore and popular music, all used in many plays). It is important to deepen the debate on popular culture in order to understand the various concepts of culture, what assumptions are behind those concepts, and what the consequences of these understandings are. It also important to comprehend the discussion concerning popular culture and modernization, and Gramsci's studies in Italy could contribute greatly. The debate in his works regarding national and popular culture and how popular culture develops as a result of capitalist modernization could help add details to the discussions studied in my research. Throughout this research, it will also be important to detail the type of mediation that intellectuals engage in when it comes to cultural traits and the meaning of the subaltern in Gramsci's studies (as well as the consequences of this debate on representation in literature). The value popular culture (and national culture) receive in a society depends a lot on these socials roles. NOTE: As the definition of "popular" differs between Portuguese and English, I would like to define it here: for the purpose of my research, the term "popular" means "folk"'.