Money in the poetic universe of Pernambuco's Zona da Mata region

Abstract

This article looks to present the various meanings given by people to money in the cantoria de pé-de-parede, a meeting organized at home or in a bar by a family head or the owner of the commercial establishment to hear verses improvised by a duo of poet-singers. Through the ethnographic material, the text examines the categories used to designate money and the situations in which these emerge, especially the categories of trato (deal) and contrato (contract), exploring what these meanings reveal about the world of the cantoria (singing) itself, as well as the universe of Pernambuco's Zona da Mata - a traditional sugar production region located between the Borborema plateau and the Atlantic Ocean in the northeast of Brazil. Conceived as a space of sociability for friends, neighbours and family, the brincadeira (play, diversion) is described here through the place occupied by money in its realization.