Cantos tradicionais: uma leitura da cultura germânica

Abstract

This study has as objective to analyze the cultural values contained in the lyrics of traditional songs of the choirs of a community of German origin. Nova Petrópolis is the chosen municipality for having its roots in the German immigration and for conserving aspects of this culture up till the present days. The research utilizes the method of the content analysis having as corpus seventeen traditional songs that represent the German cultural manifestations. From the study of the songs four thematic categories emerged: sense of life, religiosity, values of social life and dialectic of the emotional expressions. The themes are universal, present in narratives all over the world, but in a particular way, regional, characteristic of this specific culture, of its universe of social representations. To understand the cultural legacy transmitted from generation to generation, usage of the history of the German immigration and of the importance of the songs in the German tradition through the times is made. These categories are interpreted and related to the other studies about the German culture with the objective to understand their interlaces. The theoretic referential utilized permits the understanding of the culture and how their values appear and are articulated in this community of German origin. This way, the study contributes for the understanding of the of this community.