O lazer para além do urbano: a produção social do tempo e do território no povoado do Galheiros, Diamantina, Minas Gerais

Abstract

The following study investigates the social production of the time and territory in a traditional rural community from the perspective of leisure studies. In this perspective, we use ethnographic research and dialogue with Anthropology and Geography as means to achieve better understanding. The research corroborates the new approaches of leisure studies that extrapolate the hegemonic concept of leisure as an exclusively urban phenomenon to consider it a "dimension of the culture" (GOMES, 2014). The case study was conducted in the village of Galheiros, located 25 km from the municipality of Diamantina in Minas Gerais, which is considered a traditional community for being characterized as a cluster of evergreen shrubs’ flowers pickers. In the present work, we analyse, through the lens of leisure, the relationship between the village residents, the territory, the space they occupy, the time, the society, the nature and their own traditional or cultural manifestations. It also aims to understand the relationship of the town with work highlighting the evergreen shrubs’ flowers craftsmanship. This activity has been ensuring the survival of several residents since the 1930s, however it has been shrinking not only by the new rules for picking and marketing the flowers, but also by the lack of interest of the new local workforce in the activity. As part of our methodological procedures, first we carried out a thorough review of the literature which intended to elucidate concepts such as community, village, tradition and culture, avoiding prejudiced views and stereotypes. We also used the pertinent legislation as an important bibliographic source. Then, we immersed ourselves in the field, based on authors such as Geertz, Malinowski, Ingold and others who have dedicated themselves to studying the most appropriate way to describe the lives of other individuals through detailed observation. The field notebook was an indispensable equipment along this journey as well as the camera. As a result, we obtained the reconstruction of the village's history through oral communication and several perceptions of what it is like to be a member of a traditional community inserted into a globalized and disintegrating world. The results of this research, besides contributing to new approaches to leisure studies, can guide the implementation of policies that use leisure as a tool for social development which is capable of promoting the appreciation of practices and the development of otherness.