"I AM JUCA DO BASÍLIO, GUARDIAN OF THE RAILROAD"

"PERSONAL COLLECTION, HERITAGE, AND IDENTITY IN THE SOUTH OF RIO GRANDE DO SUL"

Abstract

"This work aims to analyze the construction of a memory related to the railway in the southern region of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, based on the personal archive and individual actions of José Eugênio Antunes Peres, better known as Juca do Basílio. This man is a resident of the city of Pedro Osório, which emerged and had its economic peak linked to the railway station and its surroundings, decaying precisely with the extinction of the train passage. Known for his habit of studying, researching, collecting, and disseminating materials and information about the railway network, Juca owns a large collection, and his photography exhibitions aim to portray the history of the train and draw attention to the past of the region where he lives, legitimizing and providing a version of it. In this direction, based on the methodology of Oral History, this work seeks to understand the reasons that led Juca to create his personal archive and how, through his actions of valuing history, urban heritage is appropriated and re-signified, outlining the tensions between the past and the present. It is believed that by selecting specific symbols to justify a railway past of the city, individual interests help to construct an identity from memory that is intended to be collective."