{"id":15887,"date":"2010-08-05T18:40:25","date_gmt":"2010-08-05T21:40:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/beta.idanca.net\/?p=15887"},"modified":"2010-08-06T17:19:44","modified_gmt":"2010-08-06T20:19:44","slug":"a-historia-a-cidade-e-os-mortos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/idanca.net\/a-historia-a-cidade-e-os-mortos\/","title":{"rendered":"A hist\u00f3ria, a cidade e os mortos | The city , history and the dead"},"content":{"rendered":"

Esse texto foi publicado originalmente no cat\u00e1logo da edi\u00e7\u00e3o 2010 da mostra de performances Verbo, realizada no fim de julho em S\u00e3o Paulo. Ele foi escrito com base no semin\u00e1rio dado pelo autor na edi\u00e7\u00e3o 2009 da mostra. A publica\u00e7\u00e3o completa, com este e outros textos est\u00e1 em formato pdf, est\u00e1 dispon\u00edvel aqui<\/a>. <\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n


\n<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Um convite inesperado<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

A palavra certa \u00e9 surpreendido: fui pego de surpresa pelo convite feito pela VERBO 09, abrindo a oportunidade de minha participa\u00e7\u00e3o no semin\u00e1rio VERBO Conjugado, dedicado ao debate sobre a performance no contexto das artes pl\u00e1sticas. Afinal, nos meus anos de trajet\u00f3ria profissional, n\u00e3o me considerava qualificado para tratar dessa tem\u00e1tica, n\u00e3o pertencendo sob qualquer vi\u00e9s ao meio das artes ou da cr\u00edtica de arte.<\/span><\/p>\n

Minha forma\u00e7\u00e3o de arquiteto e urbanista me levou a outros caminhos, os da investiga\u00e7\u00e3o sobre a cidade e seus territ\u00f3rios, os atores sociais que os constituem, em permanentes articula\u00e7\u00f5es e tens\u00f5es, os instrumentos pol\u00edticos e simb\u00f3licos por eles constru\u00eddos para defender suas posi\u00e7\u00f5es na cidade. \u00c9 certo que todos esses elementos s\u00e3o poss\u00edveis insumos para a pr\u00e1tica da performance, mas evidentemente a VERBO 09 n\u00e3o precisava de mim para tomar consci\u00eancia disso, pois s\u00e3o muitos os artistas que v\u00eam utilizando refer\u00eancias do espa\u00e7o urbano, da hist\u00f3ria da cidade e da pol\u00edtica urbana para a constru\u00e7\u00e3o de suas performances.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tampouco me parecia que os participantes do semin\u00e1rio precisavam de fundamenta\u00e7\u00e3o te\u00f3rica vinda dos estudos urbanos para a realiza\u00e7\u00e3o de seu trabalho. Todos sabemos que teoria demais atrapalha e, al\u00e9m disso, os artistas que trabalham com performance no espa\u00e7o urbano sabem buscar bastante bem seus referenciais te\u00f3ricos, quando \u00e9 o caso. Em suma, justificar minha presen\u00e7a no semin\u00e1rio constituiu-se para mim\u00a0um grande desafio.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ap\u00f3s algum tempo de reflex\u00e3o, optei por uma participa\u00e7\u00e3o de car\u00e1ter menos anal\u00edtico, e mais autobiogr\u00e1fico: trazer para o VERBO Conjugado um aspecto de minha experi\u00eancia de compreens\u00e3o e registro do territ\u00f3rio urbano, que vem orientando parte de minha trajet\u00f3ria de pesquisa e interven\u00e7\u00e3o no debate sobre a cidade. H\u00e1 mais de 15 anos venho\u00a0pesquisando, por diversos caminhos, as rela\u00e7\u00f5es entre vivos e mortos no espa\u00e7o urbano.<\/span><\/p>\n

Com essa pesquisa, venho mostrando que \u2013 ainda que no s\u00e9culo XIX os vivos tenham expulsado os mortos do seu conv\u00edvio cotidiano \u2013 nosso dia-a-dia continua permeado de rela\u00e7\u00f5es com os mortos: corpos e rel\u00edquias de santos operando milagres, locais onde ocorreram mortes considerados sagrados ou mal assombrados, lugares de comunica\u00e7\u00e3o com o mundo dos mortos… Para onde quer que olhemos, os mortos est\u00e3o por a\u00ed. Com esse trabalho, procuro combater a ideia de que nossa sociedade encontra-se integralmente secularizada: as rela\u00e7\u00f5es de religi\u00e3o e espiritualidade continuam fazendo-se muito presentes no espa\u00e7o das cidades.<\/span><\/p>\n

Recuperar aspectos de minha pr\u00f3pria trajet\u00f3ria como pesquisador do territ\u00f3rio urbano, e colocar minhas reflex\u00f5es em discuss\u00e3o no semin\u00e1rio, tem para mim uma fun\u00e7\u00e3o de duplo sentido: por um lado, oferecer mat\u00e9ria-prima para aqueles que trabalham com performance, que talvez se interessem por desenvolver ou desdobrar alguma refer\u00eancia\u00a0que coloco no debate. Por outro lado, refletir sobre os instrumentos pela pesquisa no espa\u00e7o urbano: registrar, associar, apresentar aspectos da vida urbana que, sem nosso trabalho, permaneceriam escondidos. Esses n\u00e3o s\u00e3o instrumentos t\u00e3o estranhos ao mundo da performance. S\u00e3o v\u00e1rios os artistas que operam com esses procedimentos.<\/span><\/p>\n

Iniciando uma viagem rumo aos territ\u00f3rios dos mortos <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Iniciei minhas pesquisas nos territ\u00f3rios dos mortos com um objeto bastante singelo: os t\u00famulos coloridos dos cemit\u00e9rios do interior de S\u00e3o Paulo, que me intrigavam justamente por n\u00e3o se encaixarem em nenhuma das f\u00f4rmas a partir das quais eu havia aprendido a analisar a arquitetura. Enquanto estavam claramente desvinculados das formas e institui\u00e7\u00f5es eruditas, eram tamb\u00e9m desligados das modalidades tradicionais\u00a0ou vernaculares, pois apresentavam uma intensa elabora\u00e7\u00e3o de informa\u00e7\u00f5es vindas de todos os lados, de materiais mais e menos industrializados, de estilos e linguagens tamb\u00e9m m\u00faltiplos. Por outro lado, parecia-me ineg\u00e1vel a capacidade de s\u00edntese dos elementos \u00e0 disposi\u00e7\u00e3o, resultando na produ\u00e7\u00e3o de formas criativas. Eu percebia tamb\u00e9m as conversas que as linguagens dos t\u00famulos estabeleciam entre si, revelando modalidades pr\u00f3prias de circula\u00e7\u00e3o do saber arquitet\u00f4nico e decorativo que aconteciam de maneira espec\u00edfica em cada cemit\u00e9rio. Foi com esse objeto de pesquisa que realizei minha pesquisa de mestrado.<\/span><\/p>\n

Logo descobri que os autores daqueles t\u00famulos eram pedreiros e mestres-de-obras que mobilizavam seus repert\u00f3rios para constru\u00ed-los, usando muitas vezes os mesmos materiais de que dispunham para construir as casas dos vivos. Eu achava que tinha encontrado uma mina de ouro: \u2018arquitetos\u2019 formados fora das institui\u00e7\u00f5es, que elaboravam em cada t\u00famulo suas pr\u00f3prias s\u00ednteses, produzindo algo como estilos pr\u00f3prios, distantes a um s\u00f3 tempo dos estilos eruditos e das tradi\u00e7\u00f5es vernaculares.<\/span><\/p>\n

Investigando em profundidade a forma como esses profissionais – autores de uma s\u00edntese verdadeiramente brasileira, distante dos modelos importados e colonizados – criavam suas linguagens e edif\u00edcios, eu poderia avan\u00e7ar no conhecimento da arquitetura real e majorit\u00e1ria que se constroi nas nossas cidades. Iluminar esses procedimentos\u00a0significaria ajudar a elucidar aspectos de uma arquitetura nacional e n\u00e3o-tribut\u00e1ria das escolas ditas \u2018eruditas\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hoje a hip\u00f3tese acima chega a parecer inocente. N\u00e3o levou muito tempo para que eu descobrisse que minhas hip\u00f3teses iniciais eram falhas. Conforme encaminhava o trabalho de campo, visitando mais e mais os cemit\u00e9rios, entrevistando os artes\u00e3os e fotografando suas obras, percebia que aqueles construtores populares n\u00e3o trabalhavam de forma aut\u00f4noma em rela\u00e7\u00e3o \u00e0s representa\u00e7\u00f5es da elite. Ao contr\u00e1rio, os t\u00famulos dos\u00a0mais ricos eram os modelos mais frequentes para as reinterpreta\u00e7\u00f5es populares.<\/span><\/p>\n

Outro tombo: por mais que perguntasse, jamais consegui encontrar um pedreiro ou mestre-de-obras que reconhecesse em seu pr\u00f3prio trabalho um estilo ou linguagem pessoal, uma s\u00edntese autoral espec\u00edfica a partir da qual se posicionaria na comunidade.<\/span><\/p>\n

Na verdade, todos, sem exce\u00e7\u00e3o, diziam que os respons\u00e1veis pela forma final dos t\u00famulos eram sempre as fam\u00edlias dos mortos. \u201cMas voc\u00ea n\u00e3o d\u00e1 nenhum palpite?\u201d Nada. No m\u00e1ximo, uma volta pelo cemit\u00e9rio, para a fam\u00edlia sem ideias se inspirar e\u00a0escolher um modelo pr\u00f3ximo do que queria. Pior: o trabalho de pedreiro no cemit\u00e9rio nada tinha de prestigiado. Era malvisto na comunidade, confundido com o dos coveiros.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mas o principal dos golpes foi outro. Percebi que os t\u00famulos que inicialmente chamaram a minha aten\u00e7\u00e3o como os mais criativos eram antigos: d\u00e9cadas de 1920, 1940, alcan\u00e7ando a d\u00e9cada de 1970. Com algumas exce\u00e7\u00f5es, quanto mais contempor\u00e2neos, mais os t\u00famulos tendiam para a simplicidade, a horizontalidade, a n\u00e3o-diferencia\u00e7\u00e3o.<\/span><\/p>\n

Estava perdido o meu arquiteto nacional e popular, substitu\u00eddo por algu\u00e9m que delegava todas as decis\u00f5es est\u00e9ticas (e n\u00e3o parecia sofrer nada com isso), que n\u00e3o extra\u00eda prest\u00edgio algum de sua atividade profissional, e ainda por cima estava deixando de fazer a arquitetura que eu considerava de maior interesse. Em outras palavras: em campo, minhas hip\u00f3teses iniciais haviam levado uma surra do objeto de pesquisa.<\/span><\/p>\n

N\u00e3o sabia que a dificuldade em reconhecer, em campo, o objeto que eu tinha idealizado era, na verdade, o in\u00edcio de uma nova trajet\u00f3ria, dessa vez orientada por aquilo que a pesquisa realmente mostrava. Fui aos poucos encontrando elementos e rela\u00e7\u00f5es que me sequestraram da rota inicial e me mostraram novos caminhos, que a primeira abordagem jamais permitiria percorrer.<\/span><\/p>\n

Em primeiro lugar, os caminhos do tempo, da Hist\u00f3ria. A constata\u00e7\u00e3o de que a arquitetura que inicialmente me encantara e estava em vias de desaparecimento despertou-me para o fato de que se tratava de um objeto historicamente constitu\u00eddo. Lancei-me, portanto a uma pesquisa hist\u00f3rica, procurando identificar o recorte temporal que havia viabilizado a produ\u00e7\u00e3o arquitet\u00f4nica que me interessava. Acabei trilhando a\u00a0trajet\u00f3ria da pr\u00f3pria constitui\u00e7\u00e3o dos cemit\u00e9rios paulistas.<\/span><\/p>\n

Durante os tr\u00eas primeiros s\u00e9culos da coloniza\u00e7\u00e3o portuguesa no Brasil, as cidades apresentavam uma conviv\u00eancia \u00edntima entre vivos e mortos, sepultados nas igrejas no centro do territ\u00f3rio e da vida cotidiana. Tal situa\u00e7\u00e3o estava plenamente vigente at\u00e9 o in\u00edcio do s\u00e9culo XIX. Durante o s\u00e9culo XIX, v\u00e1rios setores das elites agregam-se em uma s\u00e9rie de discursos, que iam da salubridade \u00e0 dec\u00eancia, todos convergindo no sentido de condenar os costumes tradicionais de morrer e enterrar. A constru\u00e7\u00e3o\u00a0social, que em nome da \u2018civiliza\u00e7\u00e3o\u2019 segregava os mortos dos vivos, estabeleceu um s\u00f3 lugar para eles na cidade: o cemit\u00e9rio perif\u00e9rico e p\u00fablico.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mas, resolvendo-se a tens\u00e3o do ponto de vista urban\u00edstico, surgem novas tens\u00f5es e contradi\u00e7\u00f5es. A interface entre vivos e mortos de todas as cores e classes sociais em um s\u00f3 territ\u00f3rio engendrou novas maneiras de diferencia\u00e7\u00e3o entre os v\u00e1rios grupos da sociedade. Entra em cena a arquitetura, mobilizada em todo o seu potencial de atribuir\u00a0aos t\u00famulos uma posi\u00e7\u00e3o espec\u00edfica na sociedade.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mas o esfor\u00e7o que fiz de enxergar e sistematizar a forma arquitet\u00f4nica h\u00edbrida dos t\u00famulos nos cemit\u00e9rios do interior do estado de S\u00e3o Paulo como cria\u00e7\u00e3o e n\u00e3o como desvio, n\u00e3o me levou ao encontro de linguagens \u2018leg\u00edtimas\u2019, \u2018genu\u00ednas\u2019, \u2018de resist\u00eancia\u2019. Ao contr\u00e1rio: de maneira geral, identifiquei um sentido persistente nas cria\u00e7\u00f5es e apropria\u00e7\u00f5es formais. A capacidade propositiva de novas formas \u2013 e, portanto, certo\u00a0controle sobre a obsolesc\u00eancia das antigas \u2013 parte quase sempre dos mais ricos em dire\u00e7\u00e3o aos mais pobres, e o cemit\u00e9rio \u00e9 campo privilegiado para identificar esse movimento. Tal desigualdade era verdadeiramente inc\u00f4moda, pois eu resistia a aceitar que os mais pobres tivessem um papel t\u00e3o perif\u00e9rico no territ\u00f3rio dos cemit\u00e9rios. Pude dar uma resposta a essa inquieta\u00e7\u00e3o, gra\u00e7as \u00e0 teimosia de alguns mortos, que me perseguiram desde o in\u00edcio do levantamento, aparecendo recorrentemente sem serem chamados e que acabaram por merecer todo um cap\u00edtulo, o terceiro e \u00faltimo, da disserta\u00e7\u00e3o de mestrado.\u00a0Trata-se de um conjunto de t\u00famulos de \u2018santos populares\u2019, presentes em praticamente todos os cemit\u00e9rios, lugares aos quais a popula\u00e7\u00e3o recorre para pedir favores ou para agradecer por milagres alcan\u00e7ados.\u00a0T\u00famulos que constituem espa\u00e7os de devo\u00e7\u00e3o e, em alguns casos, quase de romarias e peregrina\u00e7\u00f5es, estabelecendo janelas de interface e comunica\u00e7\u00e3o entre o mundo dos vivos e o dos mortos.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tais rela\u00e7\u00f5es e territ\u00f3rios colocam em cheque a pr\u00f3pria separa\u00e7\u00e3o radical entre o mundo dos vivos e o dos mortos, conquistada pelas elites \u2018civilizadoras\u2019 com tanto esfor\u00e7o no s\u00e9culo XIX. A matriz popular, que procurei inicialmente nos pedreiros e artes\u00e3os, pareceu em sua maior pot\u00eancia em um lugar que, a princ\u00edpio, sequer fazia parte do campo de pesquisa: a persist\u00eancia das antigas interfaces, trocas e comunica\u00e7\u00e3o entre o mundo dos vivos e o dos mortos que, percebi, est\u00e3o longe de terem sido extintas.<\/span><\/p>\n

A trajet\u00f3ria acima est\u00e1 mais bem explicada em meu livro Cidades dos vivos: arquitetura e atitudes perante a morta nos cemit\u00e9rios do Estado de S\u00e3o Paulo<\/em> (Ed. Anna Blume\/FAPESP, 2002), que, mais do que aplacar minha curiosidade sobre os territ\u00f3rios dos mortos, levantou novas quest\u00f5es, que desenvolvi em trabalhos posteriores.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

As rela\u00e7\u00f5es entre vivos e mortos: um objeto hist\u00f3rico<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Um dos principais saldos da pesquisa sobre os cemit\u00e9rios do interior do estado de S\u00e3o Paulo foi uma grande inquieta\u00e7\u00e3o com uma documenta\u00e7\u00e3o que havia encontrado no percurso de pesquisa. Fontes que eu mal compreendia, mas que mostravam suas potencialidades acerca da produ\u00e7\u00e3o de conhecimento sobre o territ\u00f3rio e as cidades.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tratava-se de n\u00e3o mais que cinco ou seis passagens de documenta\u00e7\u00e3o dos s\u00e9culos XVI ao XVIII, nenhuma delas in\u00e9dita, que revelavam que, em alguns casos, os mortos chegaram antes dos vivos nos princ\u00edpios da urbaniza\u00e7\u00e3o das cidades paulistas. O cemit\u00e9rio ou o t\u00famulo de um personagem especial parecia n\u00e3o s\u00f3 preceder, mas at\u00e9 mesmo orientar, condicionar, posteriores assentamentos permanentes, alguns dos quais se tornaram grandes cidades.<\/span><\/p>\n

Seria poss\u00edvel? Teriam os mortos participado, por assim dizer, ativamente da urbaniza\u00e7\u00e3o no Brasil? As pessoas e as cidades j\u00e1 teriam se comportado dessa maneira, t\u00e3o radicalmente diferente das maneiras como nos relacionamos com o territ\u00f3rio atualmente? Responder a essas perguntas pressupunha um mergulho bem mais intenso no instrumental da Hist\u00f3ria, e foi esse o desafio que encarei em meu processo de doutoramento.<\/span><\/p>\n

Os caminhos percorridos levaram-me bem mais longe do que havia suspeitado, tanto do ponto de vista geogr\u00e1fico (incluindo uma fundamental passagem por alguns acervos portugueses e espanhois), quanto do ponto de vista acad\u00eamico, exigindo uma radical incurs\u00e3o fora de minha forma\u00e7\u00e3o e disciplina. Os documentos que tanto me fascinaram eram, na verdade, testemunhos de um mundo que h\u00e1 muito deixou de existir e que<\/span><\/p>\n

teve seu maior vigor no in\u00edcio da Idade Moderna. Sem haver planejado, voltei meus estudos ao territ\u00f3rio dos s\u00e9culos XVI e XVII e tornei-me algo como um especialista nos aspectos territoriais da Am\u00e9rica Portuguesa, identidade inicialmente um pouco inc\u00f4moda para um pesquisador t\u00e3o pr\u00f3ximo dos debates do contempor\u00e2neo. Ainda assim, encarei esse desafio intelectual com toda a radicalidade.<\/span><\/p>\n

Para dar conta das minhas inquieta\u00e7\u00f5es, tive que aprender a me aproximar de um mundo de imensas diferen\u00e7as com rela\u00e7\u00e3o ao nosso. Um mundo onde nossas verdades ajudam muito pouco a desvendar, se a ideia for entend\u00ea-lo em seus pr\u00f3prios termos. Os principais par\u00e2metros que nortearam o trabalho foram dados pela religiosidade. No in\u00edcio da Idade Moderna era impens\u00e1vel para o homem crist\u00e3o pensar, percorrer ou produzir o territ\u00f3rio de forma laica. Um mundo cuja porta de entrada \u00e9 a total integra\u00e7\u00e3o entre o religioso e o social, onde n\u00e3o havia d\u00favida que a for\u00e7a maior de constru\u00e7\u00e3o do mundo era a provid\u00eancia divina. Deus comandava e controlava todas as coisas. Tudo estava em Suas m\u00e3os. A vida material era a revela\u00e7\u00e3o de uma dimens\u00e3o espiritual e divina, sem qualquer questionamento.<\/span><\/p>\n

N\u00e3o se tratava de negar que os\u00a0atores da \u00e9poca tivessem raz\u00f5es econ\u00f4micas ou de ordem pragm\u00e1tica para seus atos, mas de identificar outra racionalidade, de base espiritual e religiosa, que tamb\u00e9m orientou a produ\u00e7\u00e3o do territ\u00f3rio. Mais do que isso, tratava-se de desfazer uma associa\u00e7\u00e3o, para n\u00f3s autom\u00e1tica, que define a esfera da espiritualidade como um \u00e2mbito \u2018simb\u00f3lico\u2019, primo pobre da esfera do \u2018real\u2019 ou do \u2018material\u2019, quando analisamos o\u00a0desenvolvimento territorial em qualquer per\u00edodo. Ao contr\u00e1rio, para o crist\u00e3o do in\u00edcio da Idade Moderna, conceitos como Deus, Diabo, pecado, c\u00e9u, inferno, purgat\u00f3rio e outros eram \u2018realidades reveladas pela esfera divina e, portanto, mais reais do que os fugazes aspectos temporais de suas vidas\u2019[2] O resultado desse trabalho foi consolidado no livro Sangue, Ossos e Terras: os mortos e a ocupa\u00e7\u00e3o do territ\u00f3rio luso-brasileiro <\/em>(Ed. Alameda\/FAPESP, 2009).<\/span><\/p>\n

Os dois primeiros cap\u00edtulos do trabalho procuram mostrar que nos s\u00e9culos XVI e XVII a conforma\u00e7\u00e3o territorial, tanto na Europa Cat\u00f3lica quanto na Am\u00e9rica Portuguesa, era altamente mediada pelos corpos sagrados dos santos e pelos lugares e relatos de mart\u00edrios. N\u00e3o me refiro aqui \u00e0 representa\u00e7\u00e3o mais recente e et\u00e9rea dos santos em imagens gloriosas, mas \u00e0 presen\u00e7a f\u00edsica de seus corpos na Terra, dos sinais materiais de sua passagem por este mundo antes de partirem para privar da companhia de Deus. Essa investiga\u00e7\u00e3o foi ganhando mais e mais espa\u00e7o conforme caminhava o trabalho, e isso aconteceu porque fui me deixando seduzir pela intermin\u00e1vel documenta\u00e7\u00e3o que descobri, cujas problem\u00e1ticas abriam-se em leques. Trata-se de campo de estudo quase inesgot\u00e1vel, mas o estudo realizado me permitiu afirmar algumas coisas sobre a presen\u00e7a dos corpos dos santos no territ\u00f3rio.<\/span><\/p>\n

O primeiro cap\u00edtulo trata de alguns mortos muito especiais: os m\u00e1rtires crist\u00e3os, cujas trajet\u00f3rias de sofrimento transformaram os locais de sua morte e sepultamento em lugares investidos de significados excepcionais. Nesse cap\u00edtulo, reconstruo as rela\u00e7\u00f5es de identidade entre o culto aos m\u00e1rtires e a ordem territorial crist\u00e3, para mostrar que no in\u00edcio da Idade Moderna, a narrativa do mart\u00edrio era dotada de grande significa\u00e7\u00e3o, alavancada pelo poder pedag\u00f3gico das in\u00fameras mortes de fundo religioso que ocorreram na Europa das Reformas e pela circula\u00e7\u00e3o da informa\u00e7\u00e3o a respeito dos mart\u00edrios de mission\u00e1rios nas novas regi\u00f5es. Os mart\u00edrios foram tamb\u00e9m eventos pleno de significados para os \u00edndios que os portuguesas encontraram na Am\u00e9rica. O cap\u00edtulo\u00a0mostra tamb\u00e9m a disposi\u00e7\u00e3o dos mission\u00e1rios \u2013 Jesu\u00edtas e Franciscanos \u2013 a morrer em prol da expans\u00e3o da f\u00e9 crist\u00e3.<\/span><\/p>\n

O segundo cap\u00edtulo trata das rel\u00edquias sagradas, os restos materiais dos corpos dos santos, principalmente seus ossos. Diferente dos locais de mart\u00edrio, que eram fixos e permanentes, as rel\u00edquias eram objetos m\u00f3veis, que podiam ser tratados de maneira bastante diversificada. Podiam adormecer escondidas por s\u00e9culos at\u00e9 serem redescobertas, e isso aconteceu extensivamente na Pen\u00ednsula Ib\u00e9rica nos s\u00e9culos XVI e\u00a0XVII, ap\u00f3s a reconquista do territ\u00f3rio pelos crist\u00e3os.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tamb\u00e9m na Am\u00e9rica e na \u00c1sia houve esse movimento, principalmente envolvendo as rel\u00edquias de S\u00e3o Tom\u00e9, ap\u00f3stolo que teria pregado naquelas terras. O in\u00edcio da Idade Moderna foi provavelmente o per\u00edodo de mais intensa mobilidade das rel\u00edquias, por diversos processos que aconteciam simultaneamente: no Norte e Centro da Europa, as reformas protestantes negaram o seu poder de mediadoras entre o mundo divino e o terreno, destituindo as igrejas de suas rel\u00edquias e n\u00e3o raro destruindo-as. Na Europa cat\u00f3lica, em contraponto, seu culto foi exaltado. In\u00fameras rel\u00edquias trocaram de m\u00e3os e de cidades naquele momento, e as cerim\u00f4nias de traslado e recebimento de rel\u00edquias assumiram um porte grandioso. Os transportes de rel\u00edquias se deram tamb\u00e9m em escala global, pois era fundamental integrar as gigantescas novas terras \u00e0 narrativa simb\u00f3lica crist\u00e3, e a chegada de rel\u00edquias nas col\u00f4nias eram grandes acontecimentos enobrecedores e at\u00e9 mesmo formadores das cidades na Am\u00e9rica Portuguesa.<\/span><\/p>\n

Enquanto os dois primeiros cap\u00edtulos d\u00e3o prioridade \u00e0s maneiras como o clero relacionou-se com o territ\u00f3rio, a pergunta b\u00e1sica do terceiro cap\u00edtulo \u00e9: quais rela\u00e7\u00f5es eram promovidas pela Coroa no que diz respeito \u00e0 territorialidade da morte? Focado nos reis aos quais a Am\u00e9rica Portuguesa esteve sujeita no s\u00e9culo XVI, O corpo do Reino<\/em> mostra, por um lado, que os procedimentos relacionados aos mart\u00edrios e ao tr\u00e2nsito\u00a0e colecionismo de rel\u00edquias estavam inteiramente legitimados pelos reis. Por outro lado, verifica o importante processo de territorializa\u00e7\u00e3o e monumentaliza\u00e7\u00e3o do local de sepultamento dos reis, mostrando a progressiva afirma\u00e7\u00e3o da figura real por meio desses mesmos sepulcros, parte integrante de um processo de centraliza\u00e7\u00e3o do Estado. Os t\u00famulos reais foram tamb\u00e9m fundamentais para a legitima\u00e7\u00e3o das cidades capitais \u2013 que nesse caso s\u00e3o duas: Lisboa e Madri \u2013 o que acabou por produzir uma nova hierarquia territorial para os imp\u00e9rios.<\/span><\/p>\n

O quarto cap\u00edtulo, A comunidade dos vivos e dos mortos<\/em>, mostra que n\u00e3o eram apenas os santos e m\u00e1rtires os mortos capazes de influir sobre a sociabilidade e a organiza\u00e7\u00e3o do territ\u00f3rio. Os mortos comuns tinham tamb\u00e9m seus poderes. Nesse cap\u00edtulo, procuro investigar os la\u00e7os de depend\u00eancias e reciprocidades que ligavam vivos e mortos, mostrando a poderosa capacidade de agrega\u00e7\u00e3o sobre o territ\u00f3rio que os mortos possu\u00edram no in\u00edcio da Idade Moderna, constituindo-se quase como um grupo social, uma \u2018faixa et\u00e1ria\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

A geografia do al\u00e9m fazia parte da vida das pessoas como as ruas, casas e templos da cidade, e existiam vias de acesso claras e amplamente aceitas entre esses dois mundos. Foi dada import\u00e2ncia especial ao purgat\u00f3rio, que dentre os territ\u00f3rios do al\u00e9m sem d\u00favida era aquele que tinha mais interfaces com o mundo dos vivos.<\/span><\/p>\n

A ocupa\u00e7\u00e3o cat\u00f3lica do Brasil significou tamb\u00e9m um gigantesco choque de territorialidades f\u00fanebres, talvez o mais profundo que a humanidade jamais assistiu. Os habitantes nativos do Brasil atribu\u00edam significados que n\u00e3o podiam mais ser distintos daqueles que os portugueses davam \u00e0 morte e ao territ\u00f3rio.<\/span><\/p>\n

O quinto e \u00faltimo cap\u00edtulo do livro, Os \u00edndios, sua terra e seus mortos<\/em>, \u00e9 integralmente dedicado a eles, procurando entender a maneira como os \u00edndios, especificamente os Tupi, articulavam em seus pr\u00f3prios termos as rela\u00e7\u00f5es entre morte e territ\u00f3rio. Nesse sentido, relaciona aspectos aparentemente d\u00edspares, como a pouca import\u00e2ncia dada aos locais de sepultura, o nomadismo, a antropofagia e atitudes corporais.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

A cidade, os mortos, a hist\u00f3ria e a VERBO 09<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Minha trajet\u00f3ria pelos territ\u00f3rios dos mortos est\u00e1 longe de terminar. Atualmente, estou conduzindo uma pesquisa no IFCH-UNICAMP, com bolsa de pesquisa da FAPESP, sobre a fun\u00e7\u00e3o dos mart\u00edrios como elemento de sacraliza\u00e7\u00e3o do territ\u00f3rio, fundamental para a convers\u00e3o do sert\u00e3o povoado por \u00edndios e dem\u00f4nios ao catolicismo, nos s\u00e9culos XVI e XVII.<\/span><\/p>\n

N\u00e3o me considero um especialista no passado. Pelo contr\u00e1rio, toda essa pesquisa tem como finalidade legitimar formas de constru\u00e7\u00e3o e ocupa\u00e7\u00e3o do territ\u00f3rio baseadas na religiosidade e na espiritualidade, que est\u00e3o longe de terem sido extintas – talvez estejam at\u00e9 mesmo em ascens\u00e3o. Eventos contempor\u00e2neos como a globaliza\u00e7\u00e3o, os ataques terroristas de 11 de setembro, o crescimento dos chamados \u2018fundamentalismos\u2019 no Oriente M\u00e9dio e em todo o mundo, tornam urgente refletir sobre os filtros que foram sucessivamente sendo impostos \u00e0 nossa sociedade, como, por exemplo, o do Estado Nacional, o da sociedade regida pela t\u00e9cnica, o da separa\u00e7\u00e3o entre ci\u00eancia, pol\u00edtica e religi\u00e3o. Reconhecer a pot\u00eancia das l\u00f3gicas religiosas na disputa e ocupa\u00e7\u00e3o do territ\u00f3rio possui um significado que n\u00e3o se encerra em si mesmo. No in\u00edcio do s\u00e9culo\u00a0XXI, lograr conhecer e reconhecer um mundo e uma humanidade cujas a\u00e7\u00f5es s\u00e3o motivadas pela religiosidade e pela espiritualidade n\u00e3o \u00e9 um capricho, mas uma urg\u00eancia.<\/span><\/p>\n

Voltando \u00e0s considera\u00e7\u00f5es que fiz no in\u00edcio deste texto, me parece que os percursos que tenho feito apresentam algumas semelhan\u00e7as com a forma como alguns artistas constroem trabalhos de performance, principalmente aqueles que t\u00eam como objeto o espa\u00e7o urbano e seus agentes.<\/span><\/p>\n

Uma inquieta\u00e7\u00e3o com um problema que no in\u00edcio parecia pouco mais do que uma intui\u00e7\u00e3o, um esfor\u00e7o de documenta\u00e7\u00e3o e sistematiza\u00e7\u00e3o, uma perspectiva de interven\u00e7\u00e3o em um debate de car\u00e1ter mais p\u00fablico, a preocupa\u00e7\u00e3o em restituir dignidade a in\u00fameras pessoas cujas vidas foram \u2013 e ainda s\u00e3o \u2013 estruturadas por valores que para nossos olhos t\u00e9cnicos e contempor\u00e2neos podem parecer superados, folcl\u00f3ricos, obscurantistas, pude identificar tudo isso como preocupa\u00e7\u00f5es que circulam no meio da performance.<\/span><\/p>\n

O formato que venho encontrando para dar vaz\u00e3o a essas preocupa\u00e7\u00f5es tem sido eminentemente acad\u00eamico, mas talvez isso se deva muito mais \u00e0s minhas pr\u00f3prias preocupa\u00e7\u00f5es, inseguran\u00e7as, oportunidades e talentos do que a uma maior efic\u00e1cia do meio da pesquisa em dar respostas aos desafios a que me propus enfrentar. Certamente, uma investiga\u00e7\u00e3o de car\u00e1ter mais art\u00edstico, mais livre, sobre os mesmos objetos, assuntos e documentos, traria novas possibilidades de problematizar e fazer circular\u00a0as quest\u00f5es com as quais me preocupo.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Renato Cymbalista <\/strong>\u00e9 arquiteto e urbanista, mestre e doutror pela FAUUSP. Pesquisador de p\u00f3s-doutorado do IFCH \u2013 UNICAMP no projeto tem\u00e1tico \u2018Dimens\u00f5es do Imp\u00e9rio Portugu\u00eas\u2019. Pesquisador (licenciado) do Instituto Polis. Autor de livros e artigos sobre hist\u00f3ria urbana e pol\u00edtica urbana, entre alguns t\u00edtulos est\u00e3o \u2018Cidade dos vivos : arquitetura e atitudes perante a morte nos cemit\u00e9rios no estado de S\u00e3o Paulo\u2019 (Anna Blume\/FAPESP, 2002); \u2018S\u00e3o Paulo, Panor\u00e2mica em 360\u00b0\u2019 (com Helmut Batista \u2013 Panaview, 2006); e \u2018Sangue, ossos e terras: os mortos e a ocupa\u00e7\u00e3o do territ\u00f3rio luso-brasileiro\u2019 (Alameda Editorial\/ FAPESP, 2009).<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Leia tamb\u00e9m: A palavra como suporte para a performance<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Performance e reencena\u00e7\u00e3o: uma an\u00e1lise de Seven Easy Pieces, de Marina Abramovic<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

This text was originally published in the catalogue of the 2010 edition of performance showcase Verbo, which took place in the end of July, in S\u00e3o Paulo. It was written after a seminar conducted by the author in the showcase\u2019s 2009 edition. The complete publication with this and other texts is available here<\/a>, in pdf format. <\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

An unexpected invitation<\/strong>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

The right word is surprised: I was caught by surprise by the invitation made by VERBO 09 [Verb 09], opening the opportunity for my participation in the VERBO Conjugado [Conjugated Verb] seminar, dedicated to debates concerning performance in the context of the visual arts. After all, throughout my professional career, I had never considered myself qualified to deal with this theme, not belonging, from any point of view, to any field of the arts or art criticism. My training as an architect and urbanist has led me along other paths, involving the investigation of the city and its territories, the social actors that constitute them in permanent articulations and tensions, as well as the political and symbolic tools they construct to defend their positions in the city. Certainly, all these elements are possible sources for the practice of performance, but evidently VERBO 09 did not need me to become aware of this, since there are many artists who have been using references to the urban space, the history of the city and urban politics for the construction of their performances. Neither did it seem to me that the participants of the seminar needed a theoretical basis derived from urban studies for the realization of their work. We all know that too much theory gets in the way and, moreover, the artists who work with performance in the urban space know very well how to search for their theoretical references, when this is the case. In short, justifying my presence at the seminar presented a big challenge for me.<\/span><\/p>\n

After some time of reflection, I opted for a participation with a less analytic and more autobiographical character: to bring to VERBO Conjugado an aspect of my experience in the comprehension and register of the urban territory, which has been guiding part of my research and intervention in the debate on the city. For more than 15 years I have been researching, along various paths, the relations between the living and the dead in the urban space. With this research, I have been showing that \u2013 even though in the 19th century the living expelled the dead from their day-to-day life \u2013 our everyday life continues to be permeated by relations with the dead: bodies and relics of saints operating miracles, places where deaths considered sacred or particularly eerie or sinister occurred, places for communication with the world of the dead… Wherever we look, the dead are there. With this work, I seek to combat the idea that our society is totally secularized: the relations of religion and spirituality continue to be very present in the space of the cities.<\/span><\/p>\n

For me, the recovery of aspects of my own trajectory as a researcher of the urban territory, and putting my reflections into discussion in this seminar, can function in two ways: on the one hand, it offers raw material for those who work with performance, who are perhaps interested in developing or unfolding some reference that I inject into the debate. On the other, it reflects on the instruments for research in the urban space: registering, associating, presenting aspects of urban life which, without our work, would remain hidden. These instruments are not so strange to the world of performance. There are various artists who operate with these procedures.<\/span><\/p>\n

Beginning a voyage toward the territories of the dead<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

I began my researches into the territories of the dead with a very simple subject: the colored tombs in the cemeteries in the smaller towns and cities of S\u00e3o Paulo state, which intrigued me precisely for not fitting into any of the forms in terms of which I had learned to analyze architecture. While they clearly bore no connection to erudite forms and institutions, they were also unconnected with the traditional or vernacular modalities, since they presented an intense elaboration of information from a wide range of sources, were made using more or less industrialized materials, and also evinced multiple styles and languages. On the other hand, I noticed an undeniable capacity for synthesis of the available elements, resulting in the production of creative forms. I also perceived the conversations that the languages of the tombs established among themselves, revealing modalities proper to the circulation of architectural and decorative knowledge that took place in a specific way in each cemetery. This research and these considerations constituted the subject of my master\u2019s thesis.<\/span><\/p>\n

I soon discovered that the authors of these tombs were bricklayers and construction contractors who resorted to their overall repertoires in constructing them, often using the same materials they used to build houses for the living. I felt that I had discovered a gold mine: \u201carchitects\u201d trained outside institutions, who elaborated their own syntheses in each tomb, producing something akin to personal styles, removed from both the erudite styles and the vernacular traditions. By investigating more deeply the way in which these professionals \u2013 the authors of a truly Brazilian synthesis, distant from imported and colonized models \u2013 created their languages and buildings, I would be able to further my knowledge of the real and mainstream architecture used in the construction of our cities. Shedding light on these procedures meant helping to elucidate aspects of a national architecture that owed nothing to the so-called \u201cerudite\u201d schools.<\/span><\/p>\n

Today, the foregoing hypothesis is clearly seen to be ingenuous. It did not take me long to discover that my initial hypotheses were wrong. As I progressed in my field work, visiting more and more cemeteries, interviewing the participants and photographing their works, I perceived that those popular builders did not work autonomously in relation to the representations of the elite. On the contrary, the tombs of the richest people served as the most frequent models for the popular reinterpretations.<\/span><\/p>\n

Another upset was that with all my interviews, I never managed to find a bricklayer or construction contractor who recognized in his own work a personal style or language, a specific authorial synthesis based on which he positioned himself in the community. Actually, they all, without exception, said that the people responsible for the final form of the tombs were always the families of the deceased. \u201cBut don\u2019t you give any suggestions?\u201d Nothing. At most, a family without any prior ideas would take a walk around the cemetery and choose a model close to what they wanted. What was worse, the bricklayer\u2019s work in the cemetery brought him no prestige. He was seen by the community in a shadowy light, confused with the image of the gravedigger.<\/span><\/p>\n

But the major upset was still another. I perceived that the tombs that had initially caught my attention as being the most creative were the older ones: from the 1920s, 1940s, up to the 1970s. With some exceptions, the more contemporary the tomb, the more it tended toward simplicity, horizontality, and nondifferentiation.<\/span><\/p>\n

My national and popular architect was lost, substituted by someone who delegated all the aesthetic decisions (and seemed not to suffer because of this), who did not obtain any prestige from his professional activity, and furthermore was tending to no longer create what I considered to be the most interesting architecture. In other words: as my field work progressed, my initial hypothesis took a beating from the object of my research itself.<\/span><\/p>\n

I was not aware at that time that my difficulties in recognizing my original hypothesis in the findings of my field work would start me down a new course, this time oriented by what my research was actually revealing. I gradually found elements and relations that led me away from the initial route and showed me new paths, which the first approach would never have allowed me to follow.<\/span><\/p>\n

First of all, the paths of time, of History. The discovery that the architecture that had initially charmed me was gradually disappearing awakened me to the fact that it was a historically constituted object. I therefore initiated a historic research, seeking to identify the temporal context that had given rise to the architectural production that interested me. I wound up studying the historical beginnings of the cemeteries in the state of S\u00e3o Paulo.<\/span><\/p>\n

During the first three centuries of Portuguese colonization in Brazil, the living and the dead lived in close proximity in the cities, the dead being entombed at churches in the center of the urban space and everyday life. This situation prevailed until the early 19th century. During the 19th<\/sup> century, various sectors of the elites began setting forth a number of considerations, ranging from health to decency, all converging on the idea of condemning the traditional customs of death and burial. The social construction, which in the name of \u201ccivilization\u201d segregated the dead from the living, established a single place for them in the city: the public cemetery at the city\u2019s periphery. But once the tension from an urbanistic point of view was resolved, new tensions and contradictions emerged. The interface between the living and the dead of people of all colors and social classes in a single territory gave rise to new manners of differentiation between the various groups in society. Architecture entered the scene, mobilized in all its potential to attribute to the tombs a specific position in society.<\/span><\/p>\n

But my efforts at perceiving and systematizing the hybrid architectural form of the tombs in the cemeteries of small cities and towns of S\u00e3o Paulo State as creations, rather than deviations, did not bring me to the encounter of \u201clegitimate,\u201d \u201cgenuine,\u201d languages \u201cof resistance.\u201d On the contrary: generally, I identified a persistent sense in the creations and formal appropriations. The capacity for proposing new forms \u2013 and, therefore, a certain control on the obsolescence of the old ones \u2013 begins almost always from the richest people, moving toward the poorer ones, and the cemetery is the privileged field for identifying this movement. This inequality was truly disquieting, because I found it hard to accept that the poorer people had such a peripheral role in the territory of the cemeteries.<\/span><\/p>\n

I was able to obtain a response to this uneasiness, thanks to the insistence of some of the deceased, who followed me ever since the outset of the survey, who appeared recurrently without being called, and wound up deserving an entire chapter, the third and last chapter, in my master\u2019s dissertation. These were a set of tombs of \u201cpopular saints,\u201d present in practically all of the cemeteries, places the population resorted to in order to ask favors or to express their thanks for miracles received. Tombs that constitute spaces of devotion and, in some cases, are nearly the destination of pilgrimages, establishing windows of interface and communication between the world of the living and the dead. These relations and territories impugn the radical separation between the world of the living and the dead, brought about by the strenuous efforts of the 19th-century \u201ccivilizing\u201d elites. The popular matrix, which at the outset I had sought among the bricklayers and artisans, appeared in its greatest force in a place which initially had not even been part of the field of research: the persistence of age-old interfaces, exchanges and communication between the world of the living and the dead which, I perceived, are far from extinct.<\/span><\/p>\n

The foregoing trajectory is explained in more detail in my book Cidades dos vivos: arquitetura e atitudes perante a morte nos cemit\u00e9rios do Estado de S\u00e3o Paulo [Cities of the Dead: Architecture and Attitudes in Regard to Death in the Cemeteries of the State of S\u00e3o Paulo] (Ed. Anna Blume\/FAPESP, 2002), which, rather than merely satisfying my curiosity concerning the territories of the dead, raised new questions, which I developed in later works.<\/span><\/p>\n

The relations between the living and the dead: a historic object<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

One of the main outcomes from the research on cemeteries in smaller cities and towns in the state of S\u00e3o Paulo was a great uneasiness in regard to the documentation that I had found throughout the course of my research. Sources that I hardly understood, but which revealed their potential concerning the production of knowledge about the territory in the cities. These consisted of five or six passages of documentation from the 16th to 18th centuries, all previously published, which revealed that, in some cases, the dead had arrived before the living at the outset of the organization of cities in the state of S\u00e3o Paulo. It seems that sometimes a cemetery or the tomb of a special person would not only precede, but even guide and condition, later permanent settlements, some of which became large cities. 1<\/span><\/p>\n

Could this be possible? Had the dead participated, so to say, actively in the urbanization of Brazil? Had the people and the cities behaved in this manner, so radically different from the way we relate with the territory nowadays? Answering these questions presupposes a more intense delving into the instrumentation of History, and this was the challenge that I faced in the process of earning my doctorate.<\/span><\/p>\n

The paths I had tread had brought me far from what I had at first suspected, both geographically (including a fundamental visit to some Portuguese and Spanish archives) and academically, demanding a radical foray into areas outside my training and discipline. The documents that so much fascinated me were, actually, reports from a world that has long since ceased to exist, and which reached its peak at the beginning of the Modern Age. Although it had not been in my plans, I began studying the territory of the 16th and 17th centuries, and became something of a specialist in the territorial aspects of Portuguese America, an identity somewhat uncomfortable for a researcher so close to the debates concerning contemporaneity. Even so, I took up this intellectual challenge with the utmost intensity.<\/span><\/p>\n

To satisfy my uneasinesses, I had to learn to get on closer terms with a world that was immensely different from ours. A world our truths help little to reveal, if the idea were to understand it on one\u2019s own terms. The main parameters that guided the work were given by religiosity. At the beginning of the Modern Age it was unthinkable for a Christian man to think, move through or produce the territory in a secular way. It was a world whose entrance portal was the total integration between the religious and the social, where there was no doubt that the greatest force for constructing the world was divine providence. God commanded and controlled everything. Everything was in His hands. Material life was the revelation of a spiritual and divine dimension, without any questioning. The aim here is not to deny that the actors of that time had economic or pragmatic reasons for their acts, but rather to identify another rationality, with a spiritual and religious basis, which also guided the production of the territory. Moreover, it involves the undoing of an association, which for us is automatic, that defines the sphere of spirituality as a \u201csymbolic\u201d realm, a poor cousin of the realm of the \u201creal\u201d or the \u201cmaterial,\u201d when we analyze the territorial development in any period. The situation was very different at the beginning of the Modern Age, when for the Christian, concepts such as God, the devil, sin, heaven, hell, purgatory and others were \u201crealities revealed by the divine realm and, therefore more real than the fleeting temporal aspects of our lives.\u201d2 The result of this work was consolidated in the book Sangue, Ossos e Terras: os mortos e a ocupa\u00e7\u00e3o do territ\u00f3rio luso-brasileiro <\/em>[Blood, Bones and Lands: The Dead and the Occupation of the Luso-Brazilian Territory] (Ed. Alameda\/FAPESP, 2009).<\/span><\/p>\n

The first two chapters of that book seek to show that in the 16th and 17th centuries the conformation of territory, both in Catholic Europe as well as Portuguese America, was highly mediated by the sacred bodies of the saints and by the places and reports of the martyrs. Here, I do not refer to the more recent and ethereal representation of the saints and glorious images, but to the physical presence of their bodies on the Earth, of the material signs of their passage through this world before they departed from here to be with God. This investigation took on more and more space as the work progressed, as I allowed myself to be seduced by the unending documentation of what I discovered, whose problematics opened up like a fan. This has turned out to be a nearly inexhaustible field of study, yet it has allowed me to affirm some things about the presence of the bodies of saints in the territory.<\/span><\/p>\n

The first chapter concerns some very special dead people: the Christian martyrs, whose paths of suffering transformed the places of their death and burial into places invested with exceptional meanings. In this chapter, I reconstruct the relations of identity between the worship of the martyrs and the Christian territorial order, to show that at the beginning of the Modern Age the narrative of martyrdom was endowed with great meaning, leveraged by the pedagogical power of countless deaths in the context of religious strife in Europe during the Reformation, coupled with the circulation of information in regard to the martyrdom of missionaries in the new regions. The martyrdoms were also events full of meanings for the Indians that the Portuguese found in America. This chapter also shows the willingness of the missionaries \u2013 Jesuits and Franciscans \u2013 to die for the sake of the expansion of the Christian faith.<\/span><\/p>\n

The second chapter concerns the sacred relics, the material remains of the bodies of the saints, especially their bones. Unlike the places of martyrdom, which were fixed and permanent, the relics were mobile objects that could be treated in a very diverse way. They could sleep hidden for centuries until being rediscovered, as occurred extensively on the Iberian Peninsula in the 16th and 17th centuries, after the reconquest of the territory by the Christians. This movement also took place in Americaand in Asia, mainly involving the relics of Saint Thomas, an apostle who had preached in those lands. The beginning of the Modern Age was probably the period of greatest mobility for the relics, due to various processes that occurred simultaneously: in Northern and Central Europe, the Protestant reforms denied their power of intermediation between the divine and earthly realms, depriving the churches of their relics and not rarely destroying them. Conversely, in Catholic Europe their worship was exalted. Countless relics exchanged hands and moved from city to city at that time, and the ceremonies for the movement and reception of the relics took on grandiose importance. The movement of the relics became worldwide in scope, since it was fundamental to integrate the vast new lands within the symbolic Christian narrative, and the arrival of the relics in the colonies were momentous, ennobling events that could even influence the settlement of cities in Portuguese America.<\/span><\/p>\n

While the first two chapters give priority to the ways that the clergy was related with the territory, the basic question of the third chapter is: what relations were promoted by the Crown in regard to the territoriality of death? Focused on the kings to which Portuguese America was subject in the 16th century, the chapter entitled O corpo do Reino<\/em> [The Body of the Kingdom] shows that while on the one hand the procedures related to the martyrdoms and to the transport and collection of relics were entirely legitimated by the kings, on the other, there was an important process of territorial isolation and monumental isolation of the place where the kings were buried, showing the progressive affirmation of the royal figure by way of these tombs, an integral part of the process of the State\u2019s centralization. The royal tombs were also fundamental for the legitimization of the capital cities \u2013 which in this case were two: Lisbon and Madrid \u2013 which ended up producing a new territorial hierarchy for the empires.<\/span><\/p>\n

The fourth chapter, A comunidade dos vivos e dos mortos<\/em> [The Community of the Living and the Dead], shows that the dead who were able to influence the sociability and organization of the territory included more than only saints and martyrs. The common dead also had their powers. In this chapter, I seek to investigate the bonds of dependencies and reciprocities that linked the living and the dead, showing the powerful capacity for aggregation on the territory that the dead possessed at the beginning of the Modern Age, constituting nearly a social group, an \u201cage bracket\u201d of citizens.<\/span><\/p>\n

The geography of \u201cthe beyond\u201d was part of the life of the people, as were the streets, houses and churches in the city, and there were clear and widely accepted paths of access between these two worlds. Special importance was given to purgatory, which among the territories of the beyond was certainly the one with the most interfaces with the world of the living.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Catholic occupation of Brazil also signified a massive clashing of funeral territorialties, perhaps the most profound that humanity has ever witnessed. The meanings attributed to death and to territory by the native inhabitants of Brazil could not have been more different from those of the Portuguese.<\/span><\/p>\n

The fifth and final chapter of the book, Os \u00edndios, sua terra e seus mortos<\/em> [The Indians, Their Land and Their Dead] is wholly dedicated to the indigenous peoples, seeking to understand how the Indians, specifically the Tupi, articulated the relations between death and territory in their own terms. In this sense, it relates apparently disparate aspects, such as the little importance given to the places of burial, nomadism, anthropophagy and attitudes toward the body.<\/span><\/p>\n

The city, the dead, and the history of VERBO 09 <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

My path through the territories of the dead is far from over. Currently, I am conducting research at the Institute of Philosophy and Human Sciences at Universidade Estadual de Campinas (IFCH-UNICAMP), with a research grant from FAPESP, about the role of the martyrdoms as an element for the sacralization of territory, which was fundamental for the conversion of the sert\u00e3o [backlands], inhabited by Indians and demons, to Catholicism, in the 16th and 17th centuries.<\/span><\/p>\n

I do not consider myself a specialist in the past. On the contrary, all of this research is aimed at legitimizing forms of construction and occupation of territory based on religiosity and spirituality, which are far from being extinct \u2013 perhaps even on the rise. Contemporary events such as globalization, the terrorist attacks of 9\/11, and the growth of the socalledfundamentalisms of the Middle East and around the world, make it urgent that we reflect on the filters that were successively imposed on our society, such as, for example, the National State, technicist society, and the separation between science, politics and religion. Recognizing the power of the religious logics in the dispute and occupation of the territory bears a meaning that extends into other fields. At the beginning of the 21st century, achieving a knowledge and recognition of a world and a humanity whose actions are driven by religiosity and spirituality is not a whim, but an urgency.<\/span><\/p>\n

Returning to the considerations that I made at the beginning of this text, it seems to me that the paths I have taken present some similarities with the way that some artists construct performance works, principally those who take the urban space and its agents as their subject. All these things \u2013 an uneasiness with a problem that initially appeared to be little more than an intuition, an effort of documentation and systematizing, a perspective of intervention in a debate of a more public character, the concern for restoring dignity to countless people whose lives were (and still are) structured by values that to our technical and contemporary eyes might appear outdated, folkloric or obscurantist \u2013 are all concerns that also circulate in the context of performance.<\/span><\/p>\n

The format that I have been finding to give vent to these concerns has been eminently academic, but perhaps this is owing more to my own concerns, insecurities, opportunities and talents than to a greater effectiveness of the method of research in providing answers to the challenges that I have sought to face. Certainly, an investigation of a more artistic and freer character, concerning the same objects, subjects and documents, would offer new possibilities for problematizing and disseminating the questions that concern me.<\/span><\/p>\n

Renato Cymbalista is an artist and urbanist, with a master\u2019s and PhD from FAU-USP. A postdoctoral researcher with IFCH \u2013 UNICAMP in the project \u201cDimens\u00f5es do Imp\u00e9rio portugu\u00eas\u201d [Dimensions of the Portuguese Empire]. A fully instated researcher with the Instituto Polis. Author of books and articles about urban history and urban politics, including Cidade dos vivos: arquitetura e atitudes perante a morte nos cemit\u00e9rios no estado de S\u00e3o Paulo [City of the Dead: Architecture and Attitudes in Regard to Death in the Cemeteries of the State of S\u00e3o Paulo] (Anna Blume\/FAPESP, 2002); S\u00e3o Paulo, Panor\u00e2mica em 360\u00b0 [S\u00e3o Paulo, a 360\u00b0 Panorama], (with Helmut Batista \u2013 Panaview, 2006); and Sangue, ossos e terras: os mortos e a ocupa\u00e7\u00e3o do territ\u00f3rio lusobrasileiro [Blood, Bones and Lands: The Dead and the Occupation of the Luso-Brazilian Territory] (Alameda Editorial\/FAPESP, 2009).<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

O arquiteto Renato Cymbalista mostra um olhar peculiar sobre a ocupa\u00e7\u00e3o das cidades, tema que passa frequentemente pelo campo da performance. Leia e comente. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1829,"featured_media":15893,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,28],"tags":[3253,3808,1273,3809,612],"yoast_head":"\nA hist\u00f3ria, a cidade e os mortos | The city , history and the dead -<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/idanca.net\/a-historia-a-cidade-e-os-mortos\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"pt_BR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A hist\u00f3ria, a cidade e os mortos | The city , history and the dead -\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"O arquiteto Renato Cymbalista mostra um olhar peculiar sobre a ocupa\u00e7\u00e3o das cidades, tema que passa frequentemente pelo campo da performance. Leia e comente.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/idanca.net\/a-historia-a-cidade-e-os-mortos\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/idanca.net\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-08-05T21:40:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2010-08-06T20:19:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/idanca.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/cemit\u00e9rio.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"506\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"301\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Renato Cymbalista\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Escrito por\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Renato Cymbalista\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. tempo de leitura\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"42 minutos\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/idanca.net\/a-historia-a-cidade-e-os-mortos\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/idanca.net\/a-historia-a-cidade-e-os-mortos\/\",\"name\":\"A hist\u00f3ria, a cidade e os mortos | The city , history and the dead -\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/idanca.net\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2010-08-05T21:40:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-08-06T20:19:44+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/idanca.net\/#\/schema\/person\/a7f80f521399cbf44dbb4228b40e587d\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/idanca.net\/a-historia-a-cidade-e-os-mortos\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"pt-BR\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/idanca.net\/a-historia-a-cidade-e-os-mortos\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/idanca.net\/a-historia-a-cidade-e-os-mortos\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/idanca.net\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A hist\u00f3ria, a cidade e os mortos | The city , history and the dead\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/idanca.net\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/idanca.net\/\",\"name\":\"\",\"description\":\"portal de not\u00edcias sobre dan\u00e7a brasileira e internacional\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/idanca.net\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"pt-BR\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/idanca.net\/#\/schema\/person\/a7f80f521399cbf44dbb4228b40e587d\",\"name\":\"Renato Cymbalista\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"pt-BR\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/idanca.net\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b0248ea8fc21f57209a03066768af424?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b0248ea8fc21f57209a03066768af424?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Renato Cymbalista\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/idanca.net\/author\/renato-cymbalista\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A hist\u00f3ria, a cidade e os mortos | The city , history and the dead -","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/idanca.net\/a-historia-a-cidade-e-os-mortos\/","og_locale":"pt_BR","og_type":"article","og_title":"A hist\u00f3ria, a cidade e os mortos | The city , history and the dead -","og_description":"O arquiteto Renato Cymbalista mostra um olhar peculiar sobre a ocupa\u00e7\u00e3o das cidades, tema que passa frequentemente pelo campo da performance. Leia e comente.","og_url":"https:\/\/idanca.net\/a-historia-a-cidade-e-os-mortos\/","article_publisher":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/idanca.net","article_published_time":"2010-08-05T21:40:25+00:00","article_modified_time":"2010-08-06T20:19:44+00:00","og_image":[{"width":506,"height":301,"url":"https:\/\/idanca.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/cemit\u00e9rio.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Renato Cymbalista","twitter_misc":{"Escrito por":"Renato Cymbalista","Est. tempo de leitura":"42 minutos"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/idanca.net\/a-historia-a-cidade-e-os-mortos\/","url":"https:\/\/idanca.net\/a-historia-a-cidade-e-os-mortos\/","name":"A hist\u00f3ria, a cidade e os mortos | The city , history and the dead -","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/idanca.net\/#website"},"datePublished":"2010-08-05T21:40:25+00:00","dateModified":"2010-08-06T20:19:44+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/idanca.net\/#\/schema\/person\/a7f80f521399cbf44dbb4228b40e587d"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/idanca.net\/a-historia-a-cidade-e-os-mortos\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"pt-BR","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/idanca.net\/a-historia-a-cidade-e-os-mortos\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/idanca.net\/a-historia-a-cidade-e-os-mortos\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/idanca.net\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A hist\u00f3ria, a cidade e os mortos | The city , history and the dead"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/idanca.net\/#website","url":"https:\/\/idanca.net\/","name":"","description":"portal de not\u00edcias sobre dan\u00e7a brasileira e internacional","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/idanca.net\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"pt-BR"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/idanca.net\/#\/schema\/person\/a7f80f521399cbf44dbb4228b40e587d","name":"Renato Cymbalista","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"pt-BR","@id":"https:\/\/idanca.net\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b0248ea8fc21f57209a03066768af424?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b0248ea8fc21f57209a03066768af424?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Renato Cymbalista"},"url":"https:\/\/idanca.net\/author\/renato-cymbalista\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/idanca.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15887"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/idanca.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/idanca.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idanca.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1829"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idanca.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15887"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/idanca.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15887\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idanca.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/idanca.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idanca.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idanca.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}