Carrancas do São Francisco: o mistério das figuras de proa

Abstract

The present work, at first presents a brief history of bow figures, its origins and uses since ancient times; later the term "carrancas" a type of scowl, relating them to the São Francisco River and towards the concept of these figures. This study, whose temporal spans the end of the 19th century until the year one thousand nine hundred and fifty, pervades the cultural formation of barranqueiros analysis, in which we show the beliefs of their ancestors, myths, legends and superstitions surrounding the river and their conditions of navigation, as well as the commercial flow by waterway. Thus, we consider the types of vessels, the characteristics of bow figures adopted at that time, as well as the dependence of coastal communities on the River, which forms the rich imagery of waters. The present study aims to investigate the Scowls of São Francisco River, artifacts of folk art, as with meanings. Necessity of an interdisciplinary paradigm, this research discusses how support social representations theory, that theory, able to solve social and cognitive phenomena. This theory is also associated to the social imaginary, therefore, the emphasis on the symbolic character of activities representing subjects who share a same condition or social experience, perspective that we adopted, seeking their fundamentals in Social Psychology. Finally, we address analytical form as the representations were built around the mystical phenomenon of frowns, and therefore the meanings that these figures assumed in its historical time, favoring recently a theoretical outcome could position them in list of permanence and, or redefinitions.