Poetics of song: songwriting habitus in the creative process of brazilian music

Abstract

Songwriting creativity is approached as ‘poetics of song’ through the development of methodological procedures based on the concept of ‘songwriting habitus’, applying the reflexive sociology by Pierre Bourdieu (1930-2002) to popular music studies. Delimited by the context of Brazilian music, this thesis analyses how three songwriters articulate verbalised and non-verbalised aspects of their creative practices, with particular regards to tacit knowing, intuition and spontaneity (Polanyi, 1967; Bastick, 1982; Swanwick, 1994). Concerning songwriting as practical knowledge, the methodology employs participant observation, interviews, song analysis, artistic collaboration, and other research tools. Specific to each case study, these tools are used to investigate spontaneous compositional procedures and their relationship with structured systems of songwriting practices. The position of the researcher as a member of the field of study brings ethnographic, auto-ethnographic and reflexive perspectives to cross-cultural aspects of Brazilian music. Three singer-songwriters – Conceição Rosa Teixeira (1930-), Ivan Lins (1945-), and Vitor Ramil (1962-) – occupy distinct positions in the Brazilian songwriting field, representing different generations, musical styles, and social contexts of Brazilian popular music. Each case study contributes to an epistemology and pedagogy of songwriting involving ‘songwriting habitus’ as a system of ‘musical dispositions’. Reflections on the ‘songwriting field’ comprise distinct categories of ‘songwriting capital’, establishing new parameters for understanding and evaluating Brazilian music.