O templo e a cidade : memórias sobre a construção da catedral de Maringá

Abstract

The process of building Maringá Cathedral, located in northern Paraná, is the central theme of this work. The religious temple is 124 feet tall, cone-shaped, all in exposed concrete. This monument occupies a central place in the urban landscape of Maringá, highlighting the influential presence of the Catholic Church in the history of the city. In order to understand the social and symbolic power of this temple, we chose to analyze the oral memory of long-time residents. To that end, we attempted to interpret the close relationship between the temple and the city through interviews. From narratives of these residents, questioned the establishment of a hegemonic and vainglorious discourse towards Maringá. These narratives represent a social construction understood here as local identity. However, we must not approach it as a closed and original identity, but as a permanent construction, alive in the daily lives of its producers. Important entries in the universe of these narratives such as, for example, in relations between past and present, old and new, have highlighted the creation of discourses that reinforce, markedly, the links of these respondents with where they live.