A voz da torcida: Biografia, História Oral e Memória nos relatos de antigas lideranças torcedoras

Abstract

This article aims at punctuating the relationship between memory and history from the point of view of a precise group of actors in the sports universe. Our starting point is the body of interviews with founders and leaders of torcidas organizadas that were active in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s in Rio de Janeiro. The ten statements from leaders of torcidas of the clubs in Rio were registered as the primary source for my doctoral thesis, which was defended at the Post-Graduate Program in Social History of Culture at the PUC-Rio in 2008 under the title O clube como vontade e representação: o jornalismo esportivo e a formação das torcidas organizadas de futebol do Rio de Janeiro (1967-1988). It is known that torcidas organizadas are contemporary collectives which emerged with greater strength at the second half of the 20th century. The written register on these groups is rare or unusual. In contrast, the logic of rivalry in this field has the effect of a marked degree of group cohesion, gathered around a collective memory transmitted orally from generation to generation. The article will focus on the description of the elements that structure the discourse of the chefes de torcida, the strengths of memory regarding the emergence and formation of their own associations. We intend to show in which way the reports concerning the biography of the group leader not only reveal new perspectives on torcidas organizadas but also on the history of football and the history of the country during that time.