O cinema e a cidade de Crato - CE: formas simbólicas e o cotidiano urbano

Abstract

The present study aims to propose a geographical understanding of cinemas in the city of Crato-CE. It is considered that cinema is a symbolic form in the city that is expressed in the landscape through cultural and everyday processes, reverberating in the re-construction and re-readings of identities and memories, exercising roles and functionalities in urban space. The research perspective focuses on cinema in the city and, for this, it is essential to understand the cultural landscape and the symbolic and memory aspects provoked by experiences and relationships with city cinemas. The theaters in question are: Cinema Paraíso (1911), Cinema Vicentino (1919), Cine Cassino (1920), Cine Moderno (1936), Cine-Rádio Araripe (1951), Cine Educadora (1958), Cine São José (1966) and Cine São Francisco (1966). The following will be discussed: (I) the relationship between cinema and the city, in order to better understand sociocultural relationships in the Craton space; (II) the geography of cinemas throughout history, understanding their role in the socio-spatial formation of the city of Crato, and the processes behind the cinemas' closures; (III) the understanding of the symbolic landscape through cinema based on the memories of those who experienced the different cinemas that existed in Crato. Its theoretical-methodological basis is Cultural Geography, in order to understand the relationship between movie theaters and the urban landscape. Associated with the production processes of materialities, culture appears in the city as a brand and text to be read through the landscape. That said, in the second chapter, the relationship between cinema and the city will be addressed based on theoretical discussions of Geography, correlating with the economic, historical and cultural processes that shaped the city's landscape. To conclude the chapter, the historical and economic geography of the city will be analyzed, in order to understand the construction processes of urban forms and social structures, analyzing how they relate to cinemas. In the third chapter, a Geography of movie theaters is proposed based on the following points: 1- The characteristics, emergences, trajectories and daily life through descriptions; 2 - The meanings and meanings attributed by social groups based on interviews and memory reports; 3 - The processes of closing street cinemas and the possibilities of preserving exceptional places in the city through heritage processes. Finally, we intend to conclude the chapter by raising the discussion about heritage and the preservation of urban forms.