Abstract:
This research project aims to observe the production of meaning of the Pilgrimages of the Sanctuary of Bom Jesus da Lapa through the strategies of visibility of the city and its brand place - tourism bias - as opposed to local narratives from the reports of those (as) who experience the city. It is also possible to map the elements that make up the construction of the planning process of the Pilgrimages of Bom Jesus da Lapa taking into account the cultural aspects in their religious and economic aspects as well as analyze the cultural aspects in their aspects economic, symbolic and identity involved in the Pilgrimages, especially the Novenário and Bom Jesus da Lapa Festival that takes place in August, in the perspective of the Organizing Committee of the Festival. An ethnographic study was carried out, at first, with walks through the historic center of Bom Jesus da Lapa, a region that is located in the Sanctuary of Bom Jesus da Lapa and that underwent urban transformations between 2019 and 2021. These wanderings had as inspiration the interpretative anthropology proposed by Geertz (1989) beyond its dense culture, as well as the gaze of a flâneur, proposed by Benjamin (1994) and Jacques (2012). Then, during the Novenary and Feast of Bom Jesus da Lapa, in-depth interview with pilgrims, tourists and street vendors. Then, during the months of September 2022 and June 2023, traders, residents, members of the municipal government were interviewed (Municipal Culture Coordinator, Municipal Secretary of Culture and Tourism, Communication Advisor of the City Hall and Municipal Mayor), members of the Shrine (Rector and Communication Advisor) as also partner owner of the Advertising Agency that has the account of the Municipality of Bom Jesus da Lapa. The analysis of the interviews were made in Atlas.ti is a software for qualitative data analysis developed in 1989 by Thomas Muhr, in Germany, with the theoretical contribution of discourse analysis from the perspective of Maingueneau (2002), Charaudeau and Maingueneau (2004) and Fairclough (2016) as well as in the conception of backstage and facade in the representations of everyday life proposed by Goffman (1985). On the façade of the show (The Pilgrimage) the municipal government helps to make the event happen in the best possible way, which is visible through the urban changes that happened in the city in 2020 and all the logistics that the event requires. In this interaction between Shrine and City Hall, the perception of those who live the Pilgrimage is that the city, since 2022, with the return of attendance at the party, became more modern and receptive, both for those who arrive and also for those who live in it. Thus, the results point to unveil the senses and meanings of the brand place: Bom Jesus da Lapa - Bahian capital of faith, both for its residents and merchants as well as for pilgrims and tourists and reaffirm that the city, a hieropolis, can be considered the Bahian capital of faith.
