“Princesinha do Mar”: múltiplos imaginários juvenis de Copacabana

Abstract

This thesis seeks to understand the multiple juvenile social imaginaries related to Copacabana under the light of contemporaneity and urban climatology, in order to understand how the neighborhood is able to reflect lifestyles linked to “carioquice” or “carioquity”. The study presents analyses based on authors such as Patrick Legros, Gilbert Durand, Massimo Canevacci, Fabio La Rocca, Bruno Latour, Regina Abreu and Fabiano Gontijo. The approach employed has started from the investigation of elements linked to consumption, forms of socialization, and daytime and nighttime leisure in Copacabana, and seeks to scrutinize some practices and experiences commonly associated with “carioquice” and the city of Rio de Janeiro. Thus, it was possible to draw a cartography of Copacabana, with an ethnographic basis, listening to the actors, their accounts and their narratives, which are the keynote of the thesis in terms of unveiling the myriad of social imaginaries associated with youth that surrounds the neighborhood in the 21st century. Throughout the field research, in both phases (before and after the beginning of the covid-19 pandemic), the qualitative methodology was used, contemplating the technique of observation and also the application of individual interviews, conducted both in person (in loco) and remotely, in order to draw a cartography of Copacabana. Thus, the study was developed from the description of socio-technical networks, investigating the interconnection of objects and their respective collectives for the understanding of the imaginary of Copacabana, treated here as the cement capable of establishing links, as well as sensitive forms of social life. To do so, we resorted to the understanding of the imaginary as a semantic basin, according to durandian thought. In order to complement the analysis, surveys were carried out in several secondary sources, with the purpose of referencing the research corpus, as well as providing synergy with the data from the testimonials and statements collected in the interviews (primary sources). Considering the fact that the covid-19 pandemic started during the preparation of this work (up to the date of its conclusion), it was necessary to reflect on the pandemic context and its impacts on the urban atmosphere of the city of Rio de Janeiro. Emphasizing Copacabana and its respective spaces of consumption, leisure and forms of socialization, the thesis also presents some transformations regarding the experience of the neighborhood from the month of March 2020, when the community transmission of the coronavirus occurred in Brazil.