Events
GIEEMP Seminar | Symbolic Performance of the Portuguese Nation: Ada de Castro and the Fado Cult of Lisbon
PERMANENT SEMINAR OF THE RESEARCH GROUP ON ETHNOMUSICOLOGY AND STUDIES IN POPULAR MUSIC
19.03.2025 | 3:00 PM | NOVA FCSH, Colégio Almada Negreiros, Campolide (Lisbon) | Room 208 - Floor 2 | Zoom Room
Symbolic performance of the Portuguese Nation: Ada de Castro and the Fado Cult of Lisbon
Maria Espírito Santo | INET-md / NOVA FCSH
In this seminar, I explore the details of how the musical category of fado has been used as a tool of power. I particularly highlight the reuse of romantic models that still shape notions of Portuguese identity today. The ethnomusicological study focuses on Ada de Castro, a renowned Lisbon-based fadista who served the Estado Novo regime during the 1960s and 1970s, especially through her reincarnation of Maria Severa. In 2010, Ada de Castro celebrated fifty years of her professional career, marking a significant moment in the history of fado. This research uncovers previously undocumented situations that remain on the fringes of mainstream fado historiography. Among the categories of analysis, the concept of cativações (captivations) through media representations of fado products highlights key moments in the construction of Portuguese nationalist identity. The theoretical framework employs Anthony D. Smith's ethnosymbolic approach to nationalism studies, intersecting five of his key concepts – symbolic resources, la longue durée, elitism, ethnicity, and conflict and reinterpretation – with heritage and memory tropes associated with Portuguese national symbolism. This work is the result of six years of intense collaborative ethnography, extensive fieldwork, and over a decade of performance experience in Lisbon's old neighborhoods. It also draws on a thorough consultation of a series of historical periodicals, along with specialized bibliography, contributing to a well-documented understanding of fado's role as a symbolically and emotionally powerful resource.
Maria Espírito Santo | Born in Lisbon, she holds a PhD in Ethnomusicology from NOVA FCSH (2025) with a dissertation dedicated to the study of the relationship between the musical category of fado and the representation of the Portuguese nation. Maria plays the saxophone and is the author of the radio program Perdida na Música on Rádio Radar.
