The mental and social representation in oral communication about the Cabanagem in the Municipality of Colares in the State of Pará (Brazil)

Abstract

Justification: know the current narratives on Colares Island regarding the Cabanagem in order to understand how the population reconstructs history through oral communication, thus creating mental and social representations of this historical event. Objective: To understand how the narratives of the Cabanagem are constructed, destroyed, and (re)constructed, and to explore new information contained in the mental and social representations of the inhabitants of Colares Island regarding the Cabanagem, in order to understand their current socioeconomic problems. Methodology: Study of the bibliography on the topic; an exhaustive survey of codices and newspapers from the Public Archive of the State of Pará was conducted, covering the period from 1830 to 1841; unstructured directive interviews were conducted in the Municipality of Colares. The interviewees were asked to tell stories about the Cabanagem in Colares, their sources of information, etc., to understand how supporting sources directly or indirectly interfere in the construction of mental and social representations. The interviewee was asked if they had loyalist or Cabano ancestry, or if they were unaware. The interviewees were asked to compare their time with that of the Cabanos, for a better understanding of the (re)construction of the history of the Cabanagem. The interviewees were asked if they thought there could be a new Cabanagem, so that, through these answers, their social problems could be identified through the representative (re)constructions they gave to the event. The interviews were transcribed, coded, and analysed. The analysis sought to identify differences in the interviewees' speech compared to bibliographic and documentary data, classifying these differences in oral communication as representations, which were categorised as mental or social representation. Conclusions: The family is the main influencer in the construction of social representations, reaching 66.66%. The school does not appear significantly in the representation of the Cabanagem. The anchoring of the Social Representations of the Cabanagem on the island of Colares demonstrates the great importance of the island for the movement, for the interviewees, the island of Colares is of great importance to the Cabanagem rebellion, often second only to Belém. Oppression is represented through the difficulties in strengthening social movements, which are beginning to show signs of discouragement and complacency. The evelopment in Brazil is not uniform, since the North and Northeast suffer from unemployment, high prices, rural and urban violence, etc., much more acutely than the rest of the country. On Colares Island, serious social problems are evident in social representations, including declining fish stocks, low production of cassava flour, a staple food in their diet. Well-founded research on social representation lead to a better understanding of a community and how to involve it as a partner in projects at solving identified problems. Social representation offers possibilities to rethink the socioeconomic condition of a given community, as it allows it to have more freedom to express its past fears, present difficulties, and aspirations for the future. In the history, it is reconstructed with new worldviews in mental and social representations, with a wealth of social content, humanisation, individuality, among others, which frequently polarise between groups, but also merge, creating new myths, deconstructing others, proving facts, legends, myths, demonstrating the countless possibilities that (...).