Geo-historical analysis of a myth creation in São José dos Campos (SP) from 1930 to 1964

Abstract

The city of São José dos Campos, located in the Region of Vale do Paraíba, state of São Paulo, became an industrial and technological pole since 1960’s, when the city ceased to be a climatic sanatorium for the treatment of tuberculosis. The changings on the district of Santana, located in the North region of the city, that is characterized as the first industrial area of the city, became important to understand the myth of the wanderer Maria Peregrina. She was an indigent who ramble around Santana, and marked expressively the memory of the residents of this neighborhood. Without evidence of her existence, it is hard to understand how the wanderer became a reference to the neighborhood and at what time it happened. This study is based on the methodology of historical geography, as proposed by Braudel, suggesting the dialogue between the two areas of knowledge, considering time, subject and space dimensions. The district of Santana gradually missed its status of industrial neighborhood, during 1960’s and 1970’s. In this context of losing its hegemony as an industrial district and transformation of urban space that the myth of the wanderer Maria Peregrina grew among residents as a form of social cohesion and reconstruction of the identity of the neighborhood.

Keywords:
Urban planning; City; Myth; Urban geography