“Um fuzuê dos demônios”: história social dos bois-bumbás de Manaus (1910-1956)

Abstract

Although the presence of bois-bumbás in Manaus has been documented since the mid-19th century, it was in the early 20th century that these festivities gained public prominence in the capital of Amazonas, with a significant concentration of bumbás in so-called "suburban" areas—historically neglected by the government. In these peripheral spaces, men and women, predominantly Black, poor, and of Northeastern origin, organized themselves socially to defend their traditional ways of celebrating June saints' festivals. Despite demands for permits, police persecution, and systematic condemnation by the local press, these workers found ways to resist and assert their cultural citizenship. This thesis, therefore, emerged from the need to recover the political agency of these historical actors, shedding light on their tactics in the struggle for the right to memory, leisure, and social recognition of their cultural groups. The core of this research lies in revaluing the resistance experiences of Black and poor workers in defense of bois-bumbás culture in Manaus between 1910 and 1956. Methodologically, the study drew on a diverse set of historical sources, including press records, criminal cases, writings by intellectuals and folklorists, as well as oral narratives from active participants in these historical processes. The research findings suggest that the boi-bumbá festivals were not merely forms of entertainment but, above all, expressions of identity and future aspirations in a society marked by social and racial inequalities. Therefore, the boi-bumbá festivals served as alternative and simultaneous spaces for leisure, community organization, and political resistance among workers, challenging and redefining, in practice, the stigma attached to their celebrations: “a devilish uproar.”