Paisagem da Terra dos Diamantes: passado e presente a favor de uma reflexão prospectiva

Abstract

Landscape represents more than a sum of natural and cultural elements. It is, by one point of view, a social construction in which the society sees itself reflected; and by another point of view it is a mediator between our perception and our experience in the real world. This study takes the concept of landscape to reveal the values of a territory of great natural beauty, but plunged into economic and identity crisis. It seeks, throughout the connection of naturalistic and territorial approaches, to present landscape in behalf of an identity reflection. The fact that each social group lives a landscape leads us to investigate the landscape of the Garimpeiros (diamond searchers) from Diamantina Plateau. The integrated analysis of visual landscape and lived landscape included the investigation about historical sources textual and cartographic legal texts, and the field work with the garimpeiros in their own territory. The following discussion aims to elucidate the components of the current moment of crisis and present the debate on the prospective vision of a territory in which tourism is emerging as one of the possible routes of economic restructuring.