Beira do mar, lugar comum: os primórdios do lazer e bem-estar à beira-mar da cidade do Salvador séc. XIX

Abstract

This study starts from the current phenomenon of urbanization of coastal areas in a leisure society, ubiquitous throughout the Western World and important in Brazil in recent decades. Its beginnings in Salvador was investigated, based on the premise that they were distinct and convergent approaches, in the manner of a polyphony, with their own melodic lines. Therefore, the investigation begins with the dentification of the activities that shaped Salvador's XIXth-century litoral. Then to understand how was the world of fishermen fundamental in supplying the city and in the occupation of the oceanic seashore, the seed of the future bathing use, and was the core of religious maritime celebrations and ballast. The next line of research is that of sensibilities. First, that of foreigners in their appreciation of the coastal environment through contemplation, scientific interest, choice as a place of residence and more active leisure, such as excursions and garden parties. In contrast, there was the sensibility of the luso-brazilians, asking if there was any kind of landscape appreciation, how it happened, what elements and what values it mobilized. And within the set of XIXth century leisure in Salvador, focusing on the free time and leisure of women of the middle and upper classes, and the mix of modern forms of entertainment with traditional ones. Next, we investigate the summer movement, the basis for modern vacancy in Salvador, and the particular character of popular festivals and their relationship with the sea, in pilgrimages and nautical processions, and how “spend the feasts” (“passar as festas”) was the previous form of vacancy in coastal areas. With special attention to the Itapagipe Peninsula, the main summer resort in the first half of the 19th century, where the festivities, especially in the weeks around the cult to Nosso Senhor do Bonfim, were crucial factors in urbanization. Noteworthy was the melody of the sea baths, recognizing the habits and skills of the indigenous and sea workers, inquiring whether there was a popular playful bath and identifying the therapeutic modern sea bath. And the presentation of the local medical discourse, with a certain delay when framing in its own theoretical body the experienced cases of natural sanatoriums, and the role of beriberi in the Itaparica vilegiature and traditional summer resorts. The research ends around 1860, outlining what these studied beginnings preceded and justified: a constellation of localities around the city, but with greater presence in those seaside areas, and their activities during the summer. Within this framework, the sea would appear as part of a spectrum of possible activities, enriching itself with the advent of modern sports.