Enrolando-se nas ruas do Carretel e da Manichula : espaços de vida boêmia e prostituição na cidade de Itabaiana-PB (1950-1980)

Abstract

This text aims to analyze the region of the bohemian zone of the city of Itabaiana, city of Paraíba State, with a regard to pensions, places of fun and pleasure. We aim to observe the strategies, tactics and sociabilities used by men and women to experience prostitution in the period from 1950 to 1980. The dissertation is divided into three chapters that articulate with the general objective. They are: 1) Discuss how the cattle fair and the introduction of the railroad influenced prostitution in the city; 2) Mapping the memories of the participants who remembered the spaces, characters and especially the festive moments; and 3) Investigating prostitution as a social and urban element, focused on the sexual trade of exchanges and favors in a system governed by codes and moral transgressions, removing the prostitute of the stereotyped place of victim. For a theoretical approach, we used studies on prostitution: Rago (2008), Engel (1989), Esteves (1989), Nascimento (2008), Leite (1992) and Prada (2018). On studies related to the arts of making, Michel de Certeau (1998). As a methodology, we anchor ourselves in the of oral history following the examples of Ferreira and Amado (2006), Meihy (2005), Portelli (2016). The Candau’s concept of memory (2012) and Chartier's representation concept (2002) favored the interlocutors’ memories converging with official documents, memorial books and newspapers to contribute to the construction of the past. By trusting memories and intertwining this documentation, we identify, through the life experiences of the innkeepers, former prostitutes and clients, a representative construction of the past. We emphasize the importance of this research for the theme of historiography in Paraíba as well as the originality for the local history of Itabaiana.