“O Poço místico de José de Moura”: vivências religiosas e identidade de uma cidade paraibana (Poço José de Moura PB, 1975 - 2014)

Abstract

This monograph is the result of the study on the identity relationship between the city of Poço e José de Moura - PB and the historical character José de Moura. I studied how it was built his public image of prayer, mystic and founder of the city of Paraíba, from the analysis of local historiography and cultural practices of evocation of his memory. I undertook reflections and questionings about the construction, creations and resignifications of his religious practices in the course of his activities as a prayer, and on the speeches created after his death. To reach the final result of this study, I used the memorialistic accounts of one of his assistants and the historical discourses produced by historians and dilettantes who studied the subject. I reflected on how the feast of São Geraldo de Majella, the main religious event, served to create bonds of belonging between José de Moura, the local population, the Catholic Church and the municipality. As a result of the research, we realized that the preservation and dissemination of information, the teaching of local history in schools located in the municipality, the artistic-cultural practices, the activities of the Memorial Zé de Moura museum and the monuments built in his honor are part of the politicization of the city. memory, and aims to establish an identification between the population, the prayer and the city.