Social sustainability and collective participation: cyclical dynamics of the multipart singing in the village of Manhouce

Abstract

This study discusses multipart singing in the central-northern Portuguese village of Manhouce in order to understand why and how local societies produce, safeguard and disclose common memories, cultural traditions, and musical performances. In 1938, during the dictatorial regime of the Estado Novo, the village of Manhouce was the target of a process of cultural objectification (Handler 1988), with the aims of both creating an image of “being Portuguese” and making the Portuguese exercise an ideological practice capable of “defending the prevailing order” (Paulo 1994:5). The competition provided external recognition of the supposed “authenticity” and “antiquity” of Manhouce traditions which continues to be a source of pride today. Since then, local activists have in cyclically periods brought collective performances of multipart singing into the public space. I argue that in the 21st century, it is through this collective memory, and the repertoire and performance of rural musical traditions that local activists and residents of Manhouce fight for the sustainability of their society, for the public space, for the relational space for meeting face-to-face, countering the fragmentation of their individual lives and the peripheralisation of the village. In the 21st century, through multipart singing, women actively create a powerful network that is central to the sustainability of the local social life.