MARIA DO INGÁ: THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE FOUNDING MYTH OF MARINGÁ

  • Selson Garutti SEED PR
  • Ana Barbosa de Souza
Keywords: Folklore, Folk-communication, Maria do Ingá legend.

Abstract

Studies on popular culture, traditions, customs, beliefs and several art forms are necessary to understand the formation of a people, its history, roots, behavior and identity. The past, which is frequently discarded, should be recovered. People often give slight importance to the past and greatly emphasize the future, with the consequent disregard to historical facts and people´s identity. The history of the name given to the city of Maringá, Brazil, is an example of this fact since many people born in the city do not know the origin of the name that formed their birthplace. On the other hand, there are several versions of the legend, distributed by pioneers, authors, historians and common citizens. The lack of agreement originates due to a legend from the state of Paraíba, Brazil, in which it is narrated that the beautiful damsel, Maria do Ingá, an emigrant from the drought-afflicted Brazilian northeastern region caused great homesickness to a love-sick farmer. The legend was sung in the song “Maringá”, by the composer and physician Joubert de Carvalho, hailing from the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Based on the theory by Brandão (2006), current paper investigates the legend as a folk-communication object at popular level and its genesis as part of the history of the city as a memory of the imaginary of the people of Maringá.

Author Biographies

Selson Garutti, SEED PR
Graduando em História pela Universidade Estadual de Maringá (UEM) e Mestre em Ciências da Religião pela Pontifícia Universidade de São Paulo (PUCSP). Doutor em Educação pela Universidade de Ponta Grossa (UEPG). Professor de filosofia do Estado do Paraná pela SEED
Ana Barbosa de Souza
Graduada em Comunicação Social pelo Centro Universitário Cesumar - Unicesumar. Acadêmica do curso de Tecnologia em Comunicação Institucional da Universidade Federal do Paraná (UFPR). E-mail:
Published
2016-08-03
Section
Artigos Originais