Jogos de memória

An interdisciplinary fusion of performance studies, urbanism, and autoethnography, this article investigates relationships between social memory, performativity, and politics, understood here both in the sense of governmental initiatives and within the sphere of street-based actions. It focuses on three specific moments in Rio de Janeiro’s city center between 2012 and 2013 so as to examine the transmission of memory among individuals, communities, and institutions. Using the theoretical work of Joseph Roach, Michel de Certeau, and Pierre Nora as a basis, the article presents a variety of texts (journalism, poetry, historical letters, pop music, presidential proclamations, etc.), thereby creating a heteroglossic reflection on discourses of urban “revitalization,” resistance, and performed lineages.