Culto cívico dos mortos e escrita da história: reflexões sobre a obra de Fernando Catroga

Abstract

Starting from the existence of different theoretical traditions of study on ways of dealing with death, this paper analyzes the reflections by the Portuguese historian Fernando Catroga, indicating how the topic becomes relevant to the theory of history when questioning the relationships between mortuary rites and historiography. It mainly emphasizes the dialogue with specific traditions in the fields of sociology and anthropology, which allow resume deepest philosophical questions about death and historicity from a perspective focused on the specificity of the historical view and its close association with a way to reflect on our own experiences considering the responses given to human existential problems by men of other times and cultures. In this context and in addition to historicity, the problem of otherness becomes the central focus for historiography, which is understood as one among other collective practices of ritualization of time, characterized by the specificity of its critical vocation.