Abstract

CASAS MENDOZA, Carlos Alberto. Canudos revisited: messianism, State, modernity, memory and territory. Relac. Estud. hist. soc. [online]. 2022, vol.43, n.172, pp.48-73.  Epub Aug 11, 2023. ISSN 2448-7554.  https://doi.org/10.24901/rehs.v43i172.925.

Canudos constitutes an iconic case in the history of the messianic movements in Brazil and Latin America. It is a powerful historical figure that has fueled much of the imaginary, utopias and sociocultural practices of the Brazilian Northeast. The paper analyzes this movement at the end of the 19th century regarding the construction and imagination of the State in Brazil and the processes linked to the narratives about «modernity». It focuses on how new forms of reinterpretation of the case were configured, both in local contexts -Canudos- and in the national political sphere, opening new avenues of reinterpretation and production of practices in the most recent local popular culture. It examines how these forms of cultural production have been re-appropriated in the imaginaries about the State. Finally, the frameworks between utopian narratives and the effect they have on re-readings of the past-present and local expectations about possible futures are analyzed. The analysis is carried out from various sources of information: documentaries, bibliographical, photographic, and oral history materials, mainly.

Keywords : Messianism; utopia; State; modernity; memory; territory.