“No mar estava escrita uma cidade”: registros fotográficos do veraneio em Tramandaí (1900-1960)

Abstract

This dissertation analyzes the development of summer vacation in Tramandaí, located on the northern coast of Rio Grande do Sul, through the examination of photographic records produced between 1900 and 1960. Known as “the capital of the beaches” in the state, Tramandaí has long been associated with the seaside experience for many vacationers, particularly those from Porto Alegre and its metropolitan area, to the point where “Tramandaí” and “beach” have become almost synonymous. The beach season is one of the cornerstones of local culture. Given this context, the research is based on the premise that, although this association is well established today, it underwent a process of invention — which constitutes the central focus of this study. Photographs served as a means for vacationers to eternalize the months spent by the sea, functioning as visual evidence that these moments truly took place. In this study, photographic records are employed as sources for analyzing the cultural codes of the beach season, enabling an understanding of the transformations this practice underwent over six decades — from the journeys to Tramandaí, through the vacationers’ encounters with the sea, to the relationships established among vacationers, hotels, and other spaces of sociability in the town.