The aim of this text is to present part of the results of the collective research performed in 2007 in Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo (Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo). The investigation studied eighteen groups involved with the "re-creation" of the Brazilian popular traditions in São Paulo city, trying to discern the specificities determined by the history of expressions spoken in Maranhão, Pernambuco and in Southeast as well as the people who recreated those expressions at the metropolis, many of them being middle class, young people, and of the circuit of sociability, culture and leisure they are associated with. Based on this pratices, their agents and their representations, the article develops a brief reflection about the uses of "tradition" and its impact in the life of these young people.
tradition; popular culture; youth; urban culture