MEANINGS AND PROJECTS OF MEDIATION: Neighborhood, periphery and traditional culture in Juazeiro do Norte-CE

Abstract

João Cabral, the most populous neighborhood in the city of Juazeiro do Norte, state of Ceará, Brazil, has been permeated by cultural mediation processes since the early 2000s, which have made it a local “cradle of traditional culture”, turning the spotlight to “revelers” and their “festivities” (such as the reisado of Three Kings’ Day, the warrior, banda cabaçal and bacamarte). In this process, the discourse of “traditional culture” was mobilized as an investment against the precarious situation faced by the neighborhood and its residents. The descriptors of “traditional culture”, “social mobilization”, and “periphery” were articulated and gained meaning. Regarding these articulations, this paper aims to understand the dynamics that have engendered the following configurations: art| festivity| traditional culture – transformation| mobilization| demand – neighborhood| periphery. These reflections are the result of an ethnographic research conducted from 2017 to 2020, which also included interviews and documentary sources. Inspired by Brazilian Anthropologist Gilberto Velho, this configuration may be understood as the result of movements and mediations set forth by individuals and institutions, operations that managed to craft the neighborhood of João Cabral as a “cradle of traditional culture”.