Portuguese Narrative Songs

Resumo

he present study examines the Cancioneiro (the Portuguese narrative song repertoire) from the angle of its most crucial concerns –the tension between love and death as well as that between love and family or social ethos. The material under consideration covers the important corpus collected by Maria Aliete Galhoz and other researchers. Within the space available here, the author sets out from Galhoz’s (quasi) unique exegetic insight (Romanceiro) into this much neglected genre to explore its tellers’ ethos. Love and family issues are not only rampant in this repertoire, but are also considered across a broad variety of scenarios. Love as archetypal social value unfolds as seduction, rejection, treason, fidelity for life or even beyond. As they are an intimate part of the life of certain communities, narrative songs still appear to offer a valid answer to their interpreters’ tensions, challenges and aspirations.