A espera da reza: discursos higienistas, construção do cemitério e a percepção da morte no Povoado Conceição do Azevedo (1916-1926)

Abstract

The present work aimed to understand the cultural and social ways of death and dying in Conceição do Azevedo 1916-1926. The period covered included speeches ranging from the perception of the cholera outbreak in Rio Grande do Norte, through the statements of the Provincial Presidents, until the end of the second parish death book (1916-1926). Therefore, it was necessary to analyze how the idea of sertão was built in the 19th and 20th centuries, through the memory of some travelers, as well as literary productions, considering the transformations of modernization. The objective was to create a dialogue about the hygiene discourses and how the construction of the public cemetery was given as one of the reflexes of these discourses, especially of modernity. Based on this assumption, an analysis was made of the internal space of the Jardim do Seridó Public Cemetery, nowadays, so that there could be a comparison of the material culture as remnants of a culture that is still aimed at preparing for death.