Bem-vindos ao nosso Nordeste! Um estudo sobre representações sociais e turismo na Feira de São Cristóvão – Rio de Janeiro

Abstract

The touristic places can be comprehended as spaces whose relations established go beyond several aspects the mere act of consumption. Spaces of material and symbolic exchanges, enable the sharing of values, meanings and experiences. Located in the neighborhood of “São Cristóvão” and stronghold of “nordestina” culture in Rio de Janeiro, it is estimated that the “Feira de São Cristóvão” has its origin dated on 1945, with the arrival of “nordestinos” migrants in the city. Hosting space, of celebration, of trading, the “Feira” gets bigger with the years and starts to occupy the entire area surrounding the “Pavilhão de São Cristóvão”, being assembled and disassembled every weekend. During the years 2003, however, it comes the watershed in the history of the “Feira”. After being held outdoor for 58 years, it is tranferred to the inside of the “Pavilhão de São Cristóvão” and the name changes into “Centro Luiz Gonzaga de Tradições Nordestinas”, in an agreement involving different interests. Since then, new boundaries start to be made. The tents start to be covered and fixed inside of the “Pavilhão”, and many readapt to meet the new demand. New social actors appear in scene. The “Feira de São Cristóvão” stars to be released as “a “nordestino” stronghold in the city of Rio de Janeiro ", attracting, nowadays, over 250.000 visitors per month. At the same time, speeches as “the Nordeste is here” or “one piece of Nordeste in Rio de Janeiro” goes into the tourists’ mind with the idea of a unique and special place. Reflection of the city, the same holds and concentrates the complexity in the economic, political, social and cultural. Conflict, different perspectives and interests fight for a place in what comes to change into touristic places in the city of Rio de Janeiro. Multiple meanings are constructed and shared in this new space, constantly reframed by social practice. This paper aims to map the social representations and imagery about the “Feira de São Cristóvão”, now ‘Centro Luiz Gonzaga de Tradições Nordestinas”, from the look of some of its workers. In the research, guide through theory and methodological assumptions of anthropology, seeks to outline the categories of thought related to the “Feira” and the symbolic structures that permeate it, realizing how tourism emerges in these representations. The statements made are filled with values and feelings, and the analyzed representations are mixed each other in the statements of employees of the “Feira”, the extent that they share several meanings related to this space. Once the “Feira”, a reflection of urban culture and their different lifestyles, closely related to some more permanent aspects of social life, it is believed that the study of social representations and the imaginary, analyzed from the social anthropology, can contribute to reflections on some of the issues that permeate the urban environment and tourism, in its various aspects.