“Andei, sempre tendo o que ver e ainda não fora visto”: a modernização urbana pelotense a partir de crônicas e fotografias (1912-1930)

Abstract

At the turn of the nineteenth century to the twentieth, Brazil experienced the installation of a republican government that prioritized the modernization of the nation, through the implementation of urban reforms that implied lighting and paving of the streets, gardening of squares and public roads, installation of trams electrical, water and sewage treatment and in the construction of healthy residences, as well as hygiene measures. In the present thesis, we analyze the modernization process that took place in the city of Pelotas (RS), between the decades of 1910 and 1920, based on the analysis of chronicles and photographs that give us information on both the transformations in the urban environment and on how were experienced by the different individuals that circulated through their neighborhoods and streets. The textual narratives - obtained from the newspapers A Opinião Pública, Correio Mercantil, Diário Popular, O Libertador e O Rebate - and the images - extracted from the Álbum de Pelotas, Ilustração Pelotense e Almanach de Pelotas - were understood in the light of the references of History Cultural, with the purpose of identifying how this process was carried out, which social actors were involved and how it was represented in the historical sources analyzed. Our research has shown that the process of modernization triggered by the Mayor Cypriano Corrêa Barcellos and experienced daily by the Pelotenses consolidated the existence of multiple cities contained in a single Princesa do Sul.