A categoria lugar: uma abordagem a partir da perspectiva dos quilombolas de Buriti do Meio no Norte de Minas Gerais

Abstract

An approach based on the perception of the place category, from the place of speech of the members of the quilombola community Buriti do Meio allowed a relative understanding of it. The present study had as general objective to discuss the perceptions both material and symbolic that members of the traditional Buriti do Meio community have about their places. It is the specific objectives: to apprehend the reports about the socio-spatial processes lived by the inhabitants of Buriti do Meio; to observe the space practices, the religious celebrations and actions of the daily life of the subjects and their different positions; to understand the forms of expression of the group, manifested in distinct contexts, in which they enunciate symbolic messages about the places and observe the spatial processes lived in place and their relationships at different scales. We propose in this work to make use of the methodology of case study as a qualitative research modality that has different approaches and academic applications. The chosen approach was the one in which it privileges the delimited selection of the object of study, turning to the researcher's interest in defined cases and considered as particular. The work emphasized descriptive data and bibliographical research, making use of open interviews to analyze the social reality in a complex and contextualized way to investigate the speeches and rituals enunciated in the most varied times and spaces on / in / in place. According to the reports of Dona das Neves, her places exceed the limits of the quilombola territory, especially when she shows a special affection with the people of the farm Funda Passage and it activates the customs connected to the African continent. We identify the categories of place, territory and territoriality, being linked to the category of ethnic identity, which crosses cultural criteria of self-definition, differentiation and contrast.