Paper short abstract:

Case study focused on digital activities performed by cape verdean professional tellers during the lockdown. Centralised on the presentation of traditional repertoires in deterritorialized environments and its effects on cultural identity, traditional knowledge and performance practices.

Paper long abstract:

The contemporary dynamics of storytelling movements across the globe have brought into light questions about tradition, performance, cultural heritage and, nonetheless, social power and order. The presentation of the traditional repertoire in pedagogic and artistic environments has brought change to the narratives themselves as well as to the storytelling art and its practices. This case study focuses on the professionalised oral storytelling movement in Cape Verde, specifically the activities that took place online, for two months, during the lockdown due to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Whilst the digitally mediated activities generated interesting interactions between the professional storytellers residing in the archipelago and individuals across the complex cape-verdean diaspora, it has also raised questions about the cultural diffusion of the traditional repertoire, authenticity, the level of accessibility of minority groups and the digital performatic practices of storytelling (as well as its limits).

This analysis, more than presenting specific conclusions, seeks to ponder the complex dynamics of power, participation and cultural identity that evolve in contexts of digital performance, especially when these are centered around traditional repertoires and narratives. It also aims to enhance our knowledge about the contemporary boundaries of performance, tradition and cultural identity while taking into account the cultural power of storytelling as a tool for maintaining or breaking the social order. The data to be presented was collected through different methodologies and is also framed by the ongoing PhD thesis developed by the proponent (“New storytelling practices and uses of tradition: patrimonialisation and oral narratives in Cape Verde”).