Ser italiano em São João del-Rei (1888 – 1914)

Abstract

This thesis aims to study the group of Italian immigrants who settled in the São João del-Rei city of between 1888 and 1914. Initially, an understanding of the local politics to attract european immigrants to the city and how it was prepared for the arrival of these individuals was searched. Then, through the reading of the local newspapers, a survey of the first months and years of the Italian colony highlighting their main difficulties when settlinging in São João del-Rei. Secondly, before a larger body of documents, a mapping of the places in urban areas where immigrants settled their residences was sought, along with which economic activities where undertaken by them, both in the city and in the colonies to ensure their livelihood. Finally, the proposed guiding is to seek documentary traces that reveal the many faces of the contact established between Italians and locals and how the relationship between these different groups streamlined its identity boundaries, and in the case of Italian immigrants, gave a new meaning to the “italianity”.