Processos de construção da cultura em Penha Garcia: estudo sobre Catarina Sargenta, um ícone da música de matriz rural

Abstract

Catarina Sargenta (1913­2003) is a Penha Garcia icon. In 2005 a monument was erected to this adufeira (adufe player) whose voice and “touch of the tambourine” was recorded by successive ethnographers since the early 1960s. “Shepherd”, “weaver”, "field worker", “semi­literate” according to the survey done by Giacometti in 1970, Catarina Sargenta gained visibility on a national level through the media. Currently, in 2015, the records of her voice and tambourine playing available on Youtube have a number of views much larger than the number of inhabitants of the village of Penha Garcia, an admirable testament to the scope and impact of her voice. This ethnomusicological study of the adufeira and singer Catarina Sargenta aims to contribute to the understanding of the role music ethnography has in the construction of icons of rural music in Portugal; to discover the life course of Catarina Sargenta and to understand how rural musical traditions analysed and objectified (Handler 1988) by successive ethnographers in the 21st century have built the musical landscape of Penha Garcia. This research is based on archival and bibliographic research and fieldwork, which included observing local and cultural events as well as conducting interviews with people who knew the adufeira.