Entre faixas, bandeiras e sinalizadores: o torcer-criança em uma torcida de futebol da cidade do Rio de Janeiro

Abstract

In this dissertation, I refer to the action of cheering for a football team as cheering-children, as expressed by subjects aged between 0 and 12 years old. As a fan, the child shares chants, gestures, stories, traditions and a set of common symbols with other fans. Together, they make up the supporters, which in the stadium is represented by the crowd. Considering this concept and starting from the premise that children are subjects who not only apprehend, but also construct and signify culture, the main aim of this research was to understand the experiences, meanings and relationships that run through children's cheering during football matches of the Fluminense Football Club men's professional team, in the stands of the Jornalista Mário Filho Stadium, popularly known as Maracanã, located in the North Zone of the city of Rio de Janeiro. Ethnographic in nature, the methodology was based on participant observation, using the auxiliary techniques of observation, photography and conversations with ten child Fluminense fans, aged between 4 and 12, at football matches that took place between January 2023 and April 2024. Immersion in the field with the children allowed us to identify regularities in the narratives, practices and relationships woven in the stands, contributing to the categorisation of the empirical material into three axes of analysis: 1) socialization, experiences and learning; 2) the body; and 3) gender issues. In order to engage in dialogue with the empirical data, we explored theoretical references in the field of Childhood, Culture and Society Studies. From these analyses, it was possible to see that children construct their own forms and meanings of cheering, performing important functions for the maintenance of the grandstand culture, such as (re)producing symbols and taking part in the preparation of traditional fan festivities. In addition, it was possible to see that the subordinate position of the category of childhood in society, as well as the political, economic and social contexts that structure the country, have an impact on the presence and experiences of children at the football stadium. However, it was also noted that the stands have a specific way of functioning, crossed by popular culture, where children experience, albeit temporarily, social roles that they don't enjoy in other times and spaces.