“Poetas no topo”: o sentido pessoal do rap para estudantes de psicologia

Abstract

Hip hop is understood as the combination of four artistic elements: the rap of MCs and DJs, the dance of b-boys and b-girls, breaking dance, and graffiti. There are those who advocate for the existence of a fifth element: knowledge, which would be the transmission and awareness of the population through the other four elements. Music can evoke different emotions in the unique people who consume it, and rap's main purpose is to deconstruct alienating hegemonic narratives aimed at youth through social criticism. This criticism, along with psychology's social commitment, needs to be part of the training of psychologists. From this perspective, we believe that rap can help students understand the living conditions of the population they will be in contact with during their professional practice. Based on Historical-Cultural Psychology, especially the concepts of personal meaning and social significance, the research aimed to understand the personal meaning of rap for psychology students at a public university in Minas Gerais. Individual, audio-recorded interviews were conducted with eleven psychology students using a semi-structured script. The analysis of the interviews enabled the organization of the following axes: 1) The social significance of rap, 2) The attribution of personal meaning to rap, 3) Rap in psychology training, and 4) The role of rap in higher education. For the interviewees, rap holds a strong meaning of social criticism; regarding personal meaning, rap was important for dealing with personal problems. According to the students, rap should be more present in the psychology curriculum, including in courses and classes; finally, the absence of marginalized culture in the university was highlighted, when it should be present considering its transformative role. We hope the study brings reflections on the importance of rap, as a peripheral and counter-hegemonic artistic expression, for the training of psychologists who are more sensitive to the reality and people of Brazil.