The Sustainability of Improvised Oral Poetry in Portuguese Scenarios: Minho and Madeira

Abstract

This paper addresses current strategies of sustainability of improvised oral poetry in Portugal, comparing two forms of impromptu performance of regional traditions of the art of improvising verse: the desafio minhoto and the charamba madeirense. Both embodied subaltern poetic practices, excluded from processes of cultural objectification, which started to change towards the end of the last century. In Minho, impromptu poetry is strongly rooted in society, culturally cherished, extensively merchandised and incorporated in municipal cultures. In Madeira, the aim is above all to counteract charamba’s announced extinction by legitimating its performance as part of the intangible heritage of this autonomous regional culture. This paper began as an individual piece written by each one of the anthropologists, but the advantage of collaboration was soon realised in order to compare the two areas covered and, finally, regarding Minho, a player was added to the writing.

Keywords: Improvised Oral Poetry; Madeira Islands; Minho; Charamba; Desafio; Collaborative Writing.