Dr. Castro and Mr. Science: the dissemination of Josué de Castro's concepts in the Manguebeat movement.
Josué de Castro. Manguebeat. Recife. Northeast of Brazil.
This work aims to investigate the circulation and transformation of the images and concepts of the novel Homens e Caranguejos, by Josué de Castro, in the 1990s and its relation to the debates on the spatial representations of the northeastern regionality. It was based on two assumptions: the fact that, in his fiction, the author recycled notions and characters outlined in previous writings (from short stories from the 1930s to his geographical and sociological productions in later decades); as well as what Castro called the autobiographical dimension of his novel. From this, the operation that was proven in the novel was firstly analyzed, in which a retrospective between the spatial representations and a personal meaning in the author's writing was demonstrated, in order to support the subsequent examination of the readings of such contents by the subjects of the our clipping. In the end, it was found that Josué de Castro's images and concepts, when placed in different times and spaces, took on original and unpredictable meanings, eventually breaking the awareness of his bond with the author. Castro's writings, periodicals and various artistic productions, such as album inserts, songs and video clips, were used as sources.