Ante o frontão de um cemitério: história e fenomenologia da Cidade dos Mortos (Arez / RN - 1882-1962).

Abstract

This work problematizes the cemetery space in the city of Arez, in Rio Grande do Norte, from a historical and phenomenological perspective, focusing on the Frontão do Cemitério, which was built at the end of the 19th century, being a cultural asset listed in 1962 by the Institute of National Historical and Artistic Heritage (IPHAN). We aim to chronicle the construction of the cemetery city of Arezense, as well as the construction of the funerary monument, in order to discuss the experience of being in front of a cemetery, based on the experiences of the historian who goes to the field. That said, our main theoretical and methodological contributions are: Vilma de Lourdes da Silva e Melo (2015) to conceptualize local history; Durval Muniz de Albuquerque Júnior (2006) to guide the historiographical analysis of different bibliographical sources, mainly works by memoirists from the city; Philippe Ariès (2017) and Michel Lauwers (2015) to discuss the historicity of cemeteries; the Brazilian historian João José Reis (1991) to understand the dynamics of death in Brazil; and David R. Cerbone (2014) to conceptualize phenomenology. To achieve the proposed objectives, we problematize different types of sources, such as bibliographic, documentary and imagery. In the latter cases, we will analyze state documents, periodicals and death books. Furthermore, we will dialogue with a logbook, written by ourselves, during a research excursion in Rio Grande do Norte, in June 2022, based on the methodological assumptions of ethnography (Maganani, 2009). Thus, we hope to bring relevant considerations to the history of this object, which is, at the same time, historical and aesthetic, in addition to attributing new meanings to the monument.