City, history, and memory: from a destroyed environment to a constructed one. A case study of Natividade da Serra, state of São Paulo, Brazil ; Cidade, história e memória: do ambiente destruído ao espaço construído. O caso de Natividade da Serra, SP
Between 1973 and 1974, the city of Natividade da Serra, state of São Paulo, was relocated in order to provide space to construct a hydroelectric dam for power generation. Based on the idea that the relationship between society and physical space acts to shape and influence the culture of a society, we conducted this study with the principal objective of analyzing the social impacts on the local community by highlighting the cultural transformations provoked by the restructuring of a space that was constructed over the period of a century. By conducting a qualitative analysis of data from the document repository of the City Hall and Parish of Our Lady of the Nativity (Nossa Senhora da Natividade), and from oral sources (descriptions collected through oral history), we elaborated a representative image of daily life in the city as it existed before the restructuring. This reconstruction started with the process of destruction and then proceeded to describe the reorganization of the community in the new space, as well as detailing perceptions of the city as a place that has passed through multiple historical experiences. By relating the data obtained from the written and oral sources to the historical context, we attempted to reveal the political, cultural, and ideological dimensions involved in this process of manipulation of inhabited space. We conclude that the innumerous implications caused by the abrupt transformation of this space has altered the customs and forms of sociability of the population. The analysis of the reasons and motivations for the disappearance of the city suggests that, even if only implicitly, this cultural transformation was desired by those who were in power in Brazil at that moment in time. ; Between 1973 and 1974, the city of Natividade da Serra, state of São Paulo, was relocated in order to provide space to construct a hydroelectric dam for power generation. Based on the idea that the relationship between society and physical space acts to shape and influence the culture of a society, we conducted this study with the principal objective of analyzing the social impacts on the local community by highlighting the cultural transformations provoked by the restructuring of a space that was constructed over the period of a century. By conducting a qualitative analysis of data from the document repository of the City Hall and Parish of Our Lady of the Nativity (Nossa Senhora da Natividade), and from oral sources (descriptions collected through oral history), we elaborated a representative image of daily life in the city as it existed before the restructuring. This reconstruction started with the process of destruction and then proceeded to describe the reorganization of the community in the new space, as well as detailing perceptions of the city as a place that has passed through multiple historical experiences. By relating the data obtained from the written and oral sources to the historical context, we attempted to reveal the political, cultural, and ideological dimensions involved in this process of manipulation of inhabited space. We conclude that the innumerous implications caused by the abrupt transformation of this space has altered the customs and forms of sociability of the population. The analysis of the reasons and motivations for the disappearance of the city suggests that, even if only implicitly, this cultural transformation was desired by those who were in power in Brazil at that moment in time. ; Entre os anos de 1973 e 1974, a cidade de Natividade da Serra, SP foi realocada para dar lugar a uma represa para servir a uma usina hidrelétrica. Com base na ideia de que a relação existente entre a sociedade e o espaço age na conformação da cultura, efetuamos um estudo de caso cujo objetivo principal foi analisar o impacto social deste processo sobre a comunidade local, enfatizando as transformações culturais provocadas pela reestruturação do espaço historicamente construído. Partindo de análise qualitativa dos dados encontrados nas fontes escritas (acervo documental do Executivo Municipal e da Paróquia Nossa Senhora da Natividade) e orais (relatos coletados através do método da história oral) pudemos elaborar um quadro representativo do cotidiano da antiga cidade, de seu processo de destruição e de reorganização da comunidade no novo espaço – bem como perceber a cidade como o lugar de construção das múltiplas experiências históricas. Ao relacionarmos os dados obtidos nas fontes às informações sobre o contexto histórico, procuramos desvendar as dimensões políticas, culturais e ideológicas envolvidas neste processo de manipulação do espaço habitado. Concluímos que as inúmeras implicações trazidas pela transformação abrupta do espaço alteraram os costumes e as formas de sociabilidade da população. A análise das razões e motivações para o desaparecimento da cidade sugeriu que, ainda que de forma implícita, esta transformação cultural era desejada por aqueles que detinham o poder no país.