Ressignificação dos lugares de memória negra invisibilizados no território turístico

Abstract

Endowed with complexity, the city presents cultural diversity that manifests in distinct behaviors, sociabilities, religious practices, and values. Urban experiences encompass daily challenges when encountering the Other, who holds a secret to be unveiled: it requires openness to initiate an approach aimed at discovering unknown and hidden meanings. Tourism offers related possibilities, demanding openness to new experiences, stories, and cultural encounters in the visited places. The inclusion of the anti-racist agenda poses challenges for the re-signification of narratives in tourist territories, that is, the openness to this Other hitherto invisible in traditional tourist destinations. The proposal aims to discuss the importance of tourism in the re-signification of Afro-Brazilian memory sites in a neighborhood represented by an oriental narrative. To this end, the study relies on documentary research, participant observation, and interviews, with the data subjected to categorical thematic content analysis. Initiatives aimed at concealing places associated with slavery in the central area of São Paulo date back to the 19th century, in addition to successive revitalization programs that valorized the oriental narrative, especially Japanese, instituted from the 1970s onwards to recover historical heritage, activate the economy, and promote tourism. The intensification of this process led to the mobilization of the black movement and its effective action with the purpose of re-signifying the Afro-Brazilian memory sites present there. Tourism has the potential for the re-signification of historical-cultural attractions; in this sense, by aligning with the anti-racist agenda, it can contribute to the socialization of sensitive issues with little visibility in the host society. In this regard, the visitation experience enables the appreciation of memory sites, the formation of connections with ancestry, and the establishment of a new relationship with the place, contributing to the consolidation of affirmative identities.