ÀS PORTAS DAS CIDADES URBANA E CEMITERIAL NA CIDADE DE BELÉM (PA)

Abstract

The Santa Izabel Cemetery, located in the middle of the urban metropolis in the city of Belém – PA, condenses a series of urban, imaginary and emotional interrelations that sometimes make it appear in its inert material condition, sometimes make it emerge in a dimension charged with symbolisms, and insofar as their symbolic meanings emerge, it can be seen as a subtle city, almost hidden in the metropolis. Thinking about this cemetery city, we aim to provide some elements for the anthropological understanding of the high circulation of users and passersby on dates of strong symbolic and collective appeal that focus on death, such as the Day of the Dead. Supported by an Urban Anthropology in and of the city, the macro and microstructural cut emphasizes the symbolic meanings of the cemetery and the funeral rites associated with it, as well as the relationship of such rites with the work of mourning, to identify their direct and indirect practices and relationships with the Santa Izabel Cemetery, a landscape component and a memorial relevant to the urban imagination in the capital of Pará. From this perspective, it is possible to situate the cemetery city, the funeral rites and the Day of the Dead, as sociocultural repertoires for carrying out the conduct of going to the cemetery with the purpose of mourning. It is concluded that the high circulation in the cemetery space on the Day of the Dead can be understood from the ritual practice that aims to carry out this work.