O nordeste simbólico de Gilberto Freyre : representações de escravas e escravos africanos no Brasil como produção da região

Abstract

This research analyzes how Brazilian Sociologist Gilberto Freyre(1900-1987) defines the concept of Brazilian Northeast through cultural practices of the African slave inheritage, considering a concept he created, balanced miscegenation. The research corpus consists in four publications: Nordeste (1937), Manifesto regionalista (1952),Região e tradição (1968b) and Casa-grande & senzala (2006). By applying hermeneutic methodology, the influences of deterministic currents of the nineteenth century in Europe are compared to the productions of Brazilian intellectuals, which led Freyre to focus on racial discussions in Brazil. These intellectuals are Franklin Távora, Silvio Romero and Raimundo Nina Rodrigues. Similarly the scope of the German teacher Franz Boas are considered as influences for Freyre’s productions. The empirical methodology of documentary historical analysis is also applied, by selecting historical documents related to the Regionalist Movement of Brazilian Northeast and the four African-Brazilian Northeast Congresses. The relevant documents were found in the Gilberto Freyre and Joaquim Nabuco foundations, in Recife – Pernambuco, Brazil. This research includes concepts such as region, regionalism, culture and race, and therefore uses theoretical contributions from Social Scientists, Anthropologists, Historians and Literary Critics. Amongthem are Pierre Bourdieu (2003), Norbert Elias (1994), Franz Boas (2005), Durval Muniz de Albuquerque Júnior (2011), José Aderaldo Castelo (1961), Neoraldo Pontes de Azevêdo (1984), Lilia Moritz Schwarcz (1993), Renato Ortiz (1985), Roberto Ventura (1991), and others.