Lusofonia in Musidanças Governance, Discourse and Performance

This dissertation explores lusophone soundscapes in Lisbon in synchronic and diachronic perspectives. It focuses on the governance of a music festival in the capital of Portugal: Musidanças, organized by the Portuguese-Angolan musician Firmino Pascoal since 2001. It relates cultural agents that have evoked the ambivalent notion of lusofonia. Drawing from in loco and virtual fieldwork, I analyze musical webs of interest into play in contexts of lusophone fluidity, and seek to understand how local music producers and their products represent lusofonia in festive events, other venues and recordings. I point out ways in which Firmino Pascoal has voiced national provenances of musicians and music categories performed. Although existing studies mention historical references of intercultural mixture, only recently related taboos are approached. This Ethnomusicology study case of Musidanças, implying strategies of Discourse Analysis unveils relations between music and social change, thinks beyond narratives of origins and focuses on representations of intercultural awareness and intervention.