Fazenda Nova Acauan: espaço de poder e memória no Sertão da Paraíba (São Domingos, 1842 a 1873).

Abstract

This work aims to problematize the political memory built around the figure of Benedito Marques da Silva Acauan (1815-1873), starting from the Nova Acauan farm, as a space of power in the municipality of São Domingos, in Paraíba, between the years 1842 to 1873. We seek to problematize, based on narratives developed by hegemonic groups, how the construction of factual, selective and memorialistic narratives homogenize the political activity of Benedito Acauan as a subject linked to spaces of power and how this is reproduced in the social memory of sãodominguenses. To this end, we highlight the importance of problematizing these discourses in favor of historical constructions that do not centralize the political figure of an individual when approaching the local history of the municipality. First, let us delve deeper into the analysis of the construction of the power games that make up the establishment of these political groups in the region. Founded by Benedito Acauan, after a political rupture, the Nova Acauan farm represents a space of memory and power in the backlands of Paraíba. To support the research, we consulted documentary sources, such as newspapers from the Hemeroteca Digital Nacional, bibliographic sources and oral sources. From a theoretical-methodological point of view, we adopted the analytical perspective of the so-called New Political History, based on the concepts of René Remónd (2003); Local History, based on Vilma de Lurdes Barbosa e Melo (2015); and, based on Flávio Heinz (2006), the concept of elite. Still from a methodological point of view, we work with Oral History, based on Alessandro Portelli (1997).