Entre o doce e o silêncio: visibilidade e sombras do patrimônio nas práticas alimentares da Comunidade Gustavo Adolfo de Morro Redondo/RS

Abstract

This research analyzes the food practices of the Gustavo Adolfo Community in Morro Redondo, exploring the role of festivals as spaces for the expression of culinary traditions and community sociabilities. The analysis starts from the premise that the relationship between local festivities and a locality’s gastronomic identity is a fundamental field of investigation for understanding social memory and the cultural heritage of specific places, as such events are directly associated with the lifestyle, values, beliefs, and expressions of each community. The method adopted is based on a qualitative approach with ethnographic inspirations, focusing on a case study of local gastronomic festivities, specifically in the Gustavo Adolfo Community of the young municipality of Morro Redondo, in the southern region of Rio Grande do Sul. The study investigates how these festive events use patrimonialized goods to promote themselves, highlighting the relationship between culinary knowledge and the meanings attributed to food in the construction of identity. The findings indicate that the patrimonialization of the Doce Colonial and other typical delicacies is a process mediated by both internal and external agents, involving symbolic disputes and cultural negotiations. The research also highlights the centrality of food in building social bonds and transmitting memories, emphasizing its cultural importance. Above all, it problematizes the phenomenon of the overshadowing of other food practices, in which certain gastronomic traditions become more visible at the expense of others, influenced by institutional and touristic discourses, generally external to the community. By addressing the intersection of food, culture, and identity, this thesis contributes to debates on food heritage and the processes of gastronomic patrimonialization, reaffirming the importance of community festivals as dynamic spaces for the reaffirmation and reinterpretation of local traditions. Furthermore, the municipal festivals did not prove to be an adequate field for studying food practices, which made it necessary for the researcher to engage with a local community, such as Gustavo Adolfo, to understand the invisibility of other culinary practices. Although present in community festivities, these practices are not represented in the municipality’s official celebrations, which have been transformed into commercial products aimed at tourism and the promotion of the Doce Colonial. This institutionalized heritage, while fostering the local economy, demands a silent cost: the concealment of other gastronomic practices that are essential to the cohesion and sustainability of communities, due to the overshadowing they undergo.