A construção da pátria amada: educação, patriotismo e nacionalismo na Paraíba durante a Segunda Guerra Mundial (1939-1945)

Abstract

This paper presents reflections of the “A União” journal’s representations about widespread and intensified patriotic practices in the Paraíba state during the World War II (1939-1945). From the perspective of the New Cultural History, the proposal is to analyze how the Brazilian government, through the newspaper, spread nationalistic practices and disclosed patriotic actions, influencing society to build a sense of “paraibanidade” and therefore a new national ideal, which would be necessary to the state of belligerency. The approach of this research is qualitative, and the methodology used was the analysis of material presented in the papers in the established period, as well as the dialogue with theorists who deal with the issue. To construct a narrative that seeks to contribute to Brazilian historiography of Second World War only became possible by merging the theoretical studies with research in the sources. Concerns about how a patriotic education disseminated in Paraíba, essential point for the war context, and more than that, how the Paraíba population felt the consequences of this catastrophic event in their daily lives, establishing relationships of meaning and strength, make up itself as a challenge and the core for the construction of this historiographical narrative.