As festas republicanas em Sergipe: significados, usos e morfologia (1890-1930)

Abstract

The research investigates the complex dynamics of the inclusion of workers, shopkeepers, and ethnic groups—here referred to as symbolically invisible groups—in the civic celebrations of the First Republic. This symbolic invisibility stemmed from an erasure process that ranged from the denial of their moral qualities to the omission of their political and cultural demands. Among their main demands was the right to participate in the symbolic cosmogony of republican celebrations, that is, to be included in the rituals that defined national identity and the civic values of the regime. These groups sought, above all, recognition as “children of the fatherland,” a status systematically denied to them by the ruling elites. Given this context, the objective of this study was to understand how those in political and economic power established strategies that they justified based on a logic of their own, reflecting their interests and worldviews. Thus, by excluding these groups from civic celebrations, not only was their social marginalization reinforced, but they were also deprived of an essential space for citizenshipbuilding and identity affirmation. The study’s timeframe begins with the first celebration of the Proclamation of the Republic in 1890 in Aracaju, Sergipe, under Decree No. 155-B, dated January 14, 1890. This regulation not only instituted civic celebrations but also established a symbolic ritual aimed at consolidating republican values and national identity. The period of analysis concludes in 1930, the year of the last official ceremony before the 1890 decree was revoked. This four-decade span allows for an examination of the transformations and continuities in civic practices, from the initial euphoria of the Republic to the tensions that preceded the 1930 Revolution. Throughout this period, civic celebrations served as a space of symbolic dispute, in which different social groups and institutions sought to assert their presence and claim their place in the national project. For this analysis, various sources were used, including newspapers, magazines, decrees, chronicles, novels, and images, with particular attention given to literary texts, which required greater analytical care. The theoretical foundation included Clifford Geertz’s conception of culture, Roger Chartier’s notions of practices and representations, and Benedict Anderson’s concept of imagined communities.