The Classical Guitar and public order: censorship and social control (São Paulo, 1890-1932)

This article analyzes representations of the guitar in São Paulo between 1890 and 1932, focusing on the press and discourses that associated the instrument with marginality, bohemianism, and social disorder. Drawing on newspapers and historical sources, it investigates how the guitar became a target of symbolic repression during urban modernization, functioning as a marker of class, race, and gender. The text addresses the historical background of musical censorship, the performative role of sound practices in public spaces, and tensions surrounding the presence of women in the guitar scene. It also examines how these practices resisted the disciplining imposed by authorities and urban elites. By articulating sound, space, and control, the article proposes a critical listening to the dynamics of exclusion and resistance that shaped the guitar’s presence in the city.

KEYWORDS:
Classical Guitar; Press; Public space; Morality; Cultural resistance; São Paulo