The gift and the words in the singing of the repentistas

This is an ethnography based on the study of linguistics and anthropological reflections on the way of life of repentistas. Violeiros, cantadores, repentistas sing and, through improvisation, present their relationships and social life in ritual. Through the repente it is possible to understand the social way of life of the singer. The repente is presented as improvised poetry in which two singers exchange words with their guitars. Improvisation and the surprise it brings to the listener are defining features of the cantoria. But there is a variation of it, the balaio, which is allowed in media festivals and can be a source of conflict. The aim of this work is to correlate anthropological and linguistic theory by understanding the universe of cantoria, its values and meanings from the perspective of the singers, in line with the researcher's experience. Between dramas and less conflictive relationships, the social process in which repentistas and the researcher are inserted is understood in order to formulate an ethnographic record. This work was awarded second place in IPHAN's Sílvio Romero Monograph Competition in 2015.