A voz performática de Vicente Celestino: entre o som e o sentido na era do rádio sob a ótica de Paul Zumthor

Abstract

The dissertation titled The Performative Voice of Vicente Celestino: Between Sound and Meaning in the Radio Era through the Lens of Paul Zumthor is a study that explores the vocal performance of Vicente Celestino within the context of Brazil’s Radio Era. The main objectives of the research are: to analyze the expressiveness of Celestino’s voice as an aesthetic and symbolic instance of sensitive communication; and to investigate how his performative action can be understood in light of the concept of vocality from Zumthor’s (2007) perspective. The theoretical framework is based on the works of Paul Zumthor (1993, 2000, 2005, 2010, 2014), as well as Miller (2023), Queiroz (1976), Sadie (1994), Schechner (2006), Silva (2013), Sinek (1955), and Mariz (2016). It is a documentary research grounded in Zumthor’s studies on orality, performance, and vocal presence, articulated with reflections on radio culture and the materiality of the voice. The methodological approach is hermeneutic and aesthetic—that is, an interpretative and reflective examination of the sonic performance—taking into account Celestino’s recordings, song lyrics, and public reception, in light of the categories of vocality and presence developed by Zumthor (1993, 2005, 2010, 2014). The main contribution of this dissertation lies in the argument that the performative voice, as embodied by Celestino, constitutes a form of sensitive and communicational knowledge that challenges the paradigms of technical and disembodied rationality of modernity. It thus reclaims listening as a formative, symbolic, and affective experience. The study also highlights the importance of a pedagogy of voice and presence that values the sensitive dimension of the speaking body as a site of meaning, evocation, and encounter with the other.