Das vezes que fui à Lama: reflexões sobre comunicação e territorialidade na Baixada Fluminense

Abstract

One-third of the residents of the State of Rio de Janeiro live in the Baixada Fluminense. However, the region is seen as a peripheral one. For a long time, the region has carried the stigma of being a violent and needy territory. And although from the 90's, its image has been remodeled to get consumer status, but it has not been possible to deconstruct the stigma' marks. The Baixada is much more of a peripheral region. It's place of parties, of meetings and daily clashes that build of a territory. This thesis discusses the identity construction of the territory through the social imaginary created by the media, by history and by daily practices of groups and actors. The locus of analysis was Rua da Lama, in Nova Iguaçu, Baixada Fluminense! Some people say to be the Baixada’s Lapa, others people claim to be far behind one. The Mud Street isn't an officially recognized territory, there's no street with this name in the records of the City Hall. This is the nickname of a Luís Sobral Street, in the region full of bars and nightclubs right in the heart of Nova Iguaçu, in the place where the Baixada was born. There's no consensus about the name's origin, but all the indications lead us to perceive the polysemy that involves the construction of a territory. Place of perdition, of violence, of common people, of fun! The Mud is everything, dirt, and medicine! More than violent and poor the Baixada is also a mixture of stylos, customs, colors and sounds. This research was carried out by mixing ethnographic techniques of observation and interviews with the different actors of the place and the cartography sensitive through the ambulation of the researcher in the place.