As bandeirinhas de Touros/RN: tradição e educação sensível

Abstract

The present work focus on the esthesiological experience in the context of the Bandeirinhas of Touros/RN and its relationship with Education, aiming to describe the Bandeirinhas of Touros/RN by focusing on the aesthetic and symbolic aspects that regard them as a manifestation of the norte-rio-grandense tradition; identify modes of organization of this cultural manifestation by considering its social context and the participants' esthesiological experience; and discuss how this cultural production is an educational phenomenon. The research is based on the ideas of Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology of experience, aesthetics and reversibility of the senses, the concepts of tradition according to Almeida and sensitive education according to Viana, Medeiros and Vieira, while dialoguing with Zumthor, Eliade, Porpino, Nóbrega, Chianca, among others. From a methodological standpoint, the work is based on the Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology, used to understand the aesthetic and symbolic knowledge unveiled by the experience of the women participating in the Bandeirinhas. Written and imagetic data were collected through interviews with the participants and through participant observation by the researcher. The dissertation is organized as follows: chapter 1 presents an overview of the Bandeirinhas by discussing its historical and aesthetic paths during the celebration of festa junina in Touros/RN; chapter 2 describes the preparation, the party and the festive processional - moments in which the Bandeirinhas organize and collectively share their aesthetic experiences; chapter 3 presents three aspects by which the Bandeirinhas can be recognized as an educational phenomenon. Furthermore, we discuss old age and prejudice experienced by elderly women who make up the Bandeirinhas, the interface of orality and writing mediated by the memories of these women, and the esthesiological meaning of this traditional celebration as a way of educating through the senses. In conclusion, knowing and recognizing the Bandeirinhas by their aesthetic and symbolic aspects may bring forth other ways of looking at this tradition as social practice and education by acknowledging it as cultural learning and a way of dynamic maintenance of aesthetic sharing.