Pontos de (re) visão e explorações historiográficas da abordagem regional: exercício a partir do Cariri Cearense (séculos XIX e XX)

Abstract

The historiography of the idea of the region and its scale in geography allows geographers to explore the modes of operation and translation of this knowledge in its diverse time frames of scientific thought and action and the conflicts and possibilities of their links with social projects and practices. The aim of this study is to relate institutional trends, ways and apparatuses of regional knowledge and intertwine them with theoretical and empirical configurations of geography and the discourses produced for the Brazilian Northeast and the Cariri in Ceará. Taking the region as a starting point, this dissertation aims to work with texts and discourses that show aspects and meanings that are relevant for the study of regions during the peak moments of the debate on the regional question in the 20th century and also during the 19th century when expert and technical-scientific knowledge still had not been institutionalized. The documents are analyzed as (re)view markers and political-cultural products of temporal and spatial configurations that indicate both the regularities and the particularities of scientific practices and regional formation. The concept of region is a support for the understanding and transmission of reality based on the spatial order and also constitutes the structure, process and social power for ideological action, interrelations and mystifications. The trajectory and the practice of regional studies do not develop in a linear way, neither do they reach a final and conclusive point because they entail social and epistemological dimensions that are plural, partial, and hybrid, including environmental, historical and politico-cultural aspects. As for the Cariri region in Ceará, starting with the expression oasis, valley or region, its identification as a distinct part of the habitat constitutes an important construction that spans over centuries and affects the practice of diverse professionals. This construction of a region can be considered in its longevity and extensiveness because it allows us to portray and dilute the distinctness, exceptionality and centrality of the Cariri (Ceará) and helps us to remove allusions that are less powerful and linked to areas without prestige, both with regards to political and economic issues and culture and environment. The regional approach does not impede the dialogue with reality or between scholars. It allows the geographers to explore philosophical discussions and scientific methods and can strengthen the thematic and methodological diversity and the aperture of a dialogue and a political debate.