O passado no presente : memórias e representações para descendentes de italianos e pomeranos no Estado do Espírito Santo

Abstract

Throughout history, Brazil has been the destination of the most diverse ethnic groups. Many driven by the hope of better quality of life and work, settled in the country, built prosperous communities and became part of the brazilian society. Some of these communities were created in the state of Espírito Santo, which stood out for the number of immigrants that entered the state between the 19th and 20th centuries. Among these immigrant groups are the Italians and the Pomeranians, whose descendants are still very present in the Espírito Santo society today. In this sense, this dissertation conducted an analysis of elements of the social thought of descendants of italian and pomeranian immigrants who settled in Brazil, more specifically in the state of Espírito Santo. Placing this research in the field of Social Psychology, two studies were conducted, one with the group of descendants of italians, in which 10 people participated, and the other with pomeranians, with 9 participants. The data collection method used was semi-structured interview scripts. In these studies, the content analysis technique was used to explore the data from the interviews. In order to reach the nuances of the social thought of the groups regarding their social affiliations, some theories were used that allowed access to aspects of the shared past and present. The acculturation theory was used to weave the background of the discussion, in order to better understand the past experiences of the groups and the first relationships that were established with the brazilian society. At this point, it was observed that the group of descendants of italians narrate an experience that resembles that of assimilation, while the descendants of pomeranians report one that is closer to separation/segregation. Based on this understanding, concepts from the field of study of social memory were used, linked to elements of the theories of Social Identity and Social Representations, to analyze the ways in which the past of the groups appeared in their interviews. At this point, the role of formal history in the constitution of the memory of the groups was discussed, as well as the main points where the representations of collective memory concentrated. Finally, the Theory of Social Représentations was used to analyze the way in which the groups think about their social affiliations, the brazilian and the ethnic one. At this point, we noted that the group of italian descendance organized the shared thought about their identities in two representational logics, separating the aspects of the brazilian identity from the italian one, while the group of pomeranian descendance seemed to organize this same thought in a single representational logic, which united the ethnic identity with the brazilian one. Finally, a comparison was made between the elements investigated in the studies, which found, as similarities, both in the way in which the groups use official history and in some of the aspects that organize the social representations that they generate about their pasts