Culturas populares, cidade e turismo: um estudo sobre o Largo da Gente Sergipana (Aracaju/SE)

Abstract

This study sought to analyze the relationship between popular cultures, the city and tourism, considering the role of Largo da Gente Sergipana as an urban public facility; symbolic representation and identity of the state and tourist and cultural attraction of the capital of Sergipe. It is a new urban construction present in the Historic Center of Aracaju, which absorbs different uses and city practices, also integrating the city's touristic landscape. In this sense, the research also sought to: a) investigate the processes of creation and curation, inauguration and impact of Largo da Gente Sergipana, considering it as a symbolic representation and identity of the state; b) understand the role of Largo as an urban public space, which is integrated with the new cultural and tourist dynamics of the Historic Center of Aracaju, from the inauguration and revitalization of cultural facilities; c) investigate Largo as a tourist and urban attraction, considering its relationship with the Museu da Gente Sergipana and its presence in the touristic landscape of the city of Aracaju. The study was conducted through the theoretical framework of Urban Anthropology, based on the methodological assumptions of qualitative research, through the ethnographic and netnographic method, making use of bibliographical, documental and field research. The investigation is immersed in an inductive research process, using participant observation, semi-structured interviews, use of diary/field notebook, focus groups, as well as photographic record. Given the results, the study indicated that Largo da Gente Sergipana plays an important role in the tourist landscape of the city of Aracaju, contributing to the dissemination of the symbolic-identity elements of the state, as well as in the process of strengthening the capital as a tourist and cultural destination, through the association of popular cultures with the capital of Sergipe. Largo da Gente Sergipana was built strategically in the historic center of the city, being close to other cultural facilities in the capital of Sergipan, following a marketing trend within an urban circuit with tourist and cultural characteristics. In this context, the aforementioned space absorbs practices that intensify the interaction with the city, making it possible to establish city experiences based on the popular cultures of the state. The Largo works as an extension of the Museu Gente Sergipana, encompassing various uses and practices, as well as absorbing tourist, cultural, artistic, recreational, educational and heritage features.