The geography of historiography: the access to and the use of the sources by Joaquim Felício dos Santos in Memórias do Distrito Diamantino (1868)

Abstract

The article analyzes the book Memórias do Distrito Diamantino (1868), by Joaquim Felício dos Santos (1822-1895), from the perspective of the localization and use of the historical documents by the author. The article investigates the possibilities of writing regional history in the Second Empire through a reflection on the potential limitations that the sending of documents from the provinces to Rio de Janeiro (or Lisbon, in the colonial period, or to regional administrative centers like Ouro Preto, as in the case of the Memórias) could bring to historians, and how they attempt to overcome these limitations. Such geographical delimitation, both concerning the subject of regional history and the local archives used to its writing, could lead to a greater appreciation, for instance, of the oral traditions as sources. On the other hand, the author’s insertion in the local society (such as Joaquim Felício’s insertion in the region studied in the Memórias) translates itself in a determined position from which the author could evaluate and hierarchize the historical evidences with which he works. The article proposes, in this line, a discussion about evidences from the reflections of François Hartog.