Rio Araguaia : de utopia de salvação à praia dos goianos

Abstract

This research investigates the use of the river Araguaia as a salvation utopia of the Goiás Province in the nineteenth century (mainly as navigation means), in contrast to the change of perspective in the second half of the twentieth century, with the emergence of the first leisure activities in your Beaches, as elements of social transformation, associated with modernity. In the 19th century, special mention should be made of village projects, prisons, ranch house and steam navigation. In the following century, it can be observed that navigation projects continue as attempts to develop the region, but new politics are defended, for example, railroads, highways and leisure incentives. This mode the central focus of this research is, on the one hand, to contribute to the deepening of knowledge about a geographical and symbolic space that was and continues to be of paramount importance in the historical, environmental, social, and political issues of Goiás, and on the other hand, to perceive and analyze the change of mentality in the relationship between man and nature, regarding the this leisure practice, which intensified in the 1990s, influenced by the television media and by the actions of public politics, arousing in the Goians the desire to be on the beaches of Araguaia. In order to understand how transformations occurred in the representation process on the Araguaia River, we intend to study the political and social motivations of individuals, using as sources the reports of presidents of the province - who portray the Araguaia River as a "utopia of progress" And the newspapers, literature, music and videos, which portray the river as "beach of Goias." Therefore, to think about how the Araguaia River has been used since the nineteenth century and the ruptures regarding its use from the second half of the twentieth century, is a way to highlight the changes in practices of the society of Goiás.