L’imaginaire de la fête « tribale » au Brésil

Abstract

Since 1976 the beauty pageant contest Miss Gay Brazil is held annually in Juiz de Fora (Brazil) and its 36 editions regularly attract thousands of tourists. The competition takes place between the 27 Brazilian states represented by competitors who are not transvestites, but men who dress as women. Held as one of the first of its kind in Brazil, it has become one of the most representative cultural events in the city and one of the country’s best known gay events. This thesis will discuss homosexuality and « gay tribes » to validate the hypothesis that the contest is approaching a « postmodern effervescence ». The first part is based on traditional sociology, « comprehensive sociology », the imaginary and « everyday life sociology ». There is also a theoretical review of the most relevant points of works by Michel Maffesoli in relation to this study: tribalism, identity, alterity, effervescence and Dionysus. The rituals and rites of passage are given special attention, according to their importance in this research. The second part is a transdisciplinary approach to homosexuality, through a socio-historical reconstruction, identities, « gay tourism », utilisations of the body and homophobia. The third part is devoted to the « field », composed by the « life stories method » of five Brazilian Gay Misses. This is a qualitative research that uses « observing participation » and « participating observation » to arrive at data analysis, validation and verification of results, exposed in the fifth part. Through the microcosm of Miss Gay Brazil, the aim is to contribute to the development of new categories of sociological thought on homosexuality and fêtes « tribales » from a postmodern point of view.