As relações cotidianas de uma comunidade de cafeicultores, nas memórias de Braz Ponce Martins (1897-1975)

Abstract

The present dissertation studies the daily lives of anonymous immigrants who occupied the lands of Northern Paraná and made them profitable between the decades of 1920 and 1930. The main research source is the biography of Braz Ponce Martins, "Memorial de um século de cafeicultores" (Memorial from a century of coffee growers). The narrative begins in the year of 1897, describing the coming of the author's family from Spain to São Paulo, until his present life in 2002. As for the analysis, it was assumed that personal memories are based on the collective memory, since every individual is inserted into a group. In order to recall the past, one usually calls for memories that belong not only to oneself but also to the group in which is included. The study of Braz's biography provides the chance of immerging into the work routine of population groups who have moved to the border areas. In pursuit of wealth promised by the colonizing companies, these groups were also attracted by the fertility of the land and the payment facilities advertised by the companies. The text sets the values of the estates, the payment methods, type of labour employed and the crops grown. Also, it highlights the social life of the community: children's games, education, religiosity, popular beliefs, political preferences, leisure and so on. Because of the memory susceptibility to forgetfulness and manipulation, the biography was confronted with the literature on the historical context to which it belongs. In addition to that, documents found in Braz's personal archives - photographs, writings, wood carvings - were used and his family was interviewed. The Ponce family history is part of the coffee expansion process from the western region of São Paulo to Northern Paraná. Like most immigrants, the Ponces are of European origin and after saving enough from the income received by working on coffee farms as settlers, they acquired a small property. Due to the instability of the coffee market, susceptible to frosts, overproduction crises and market fluctuations, the family moved to the newly set urban centres in search of better living conditions and accompanied the rapid growth of cities. Finally, they proceeded towards new fronts in the northwest Paraná and resumed their life.