Tempo de Carnaval: políticas culturais e formulações identitárias em Fortaleza

Abstract

This article discusses how the municipal cultural policies undertaken by the Secretaria de Cultura de Fortaleza (the Department of Culture of Fortaleza), between 2004 and 2010, take part in the process of resignification of cultural identities. The reflections presented here take as empirical reference the maracatu and the groups of pre-carnival parades which perform during carnival times in Fortaleza – Ceará. They happen to be part of a “cicle of activities” held in the city during the carnival, and they are made possible by public invitations to bid. From the point of view of the public power, the presentations of maracatu, groups of pre-carnival revelers, together with other cultural expressions, promote ideas about Fortaleza associated with a cultural city, focusing the tradition, and unbuilding, this way, images that associate it only with natural beauties, such as its coastline.