Diálogos entre a toponímia e a história das comunidades quilombolas de Água Branca - AL

Abstract

This research has the objective of analyzing, by means of toponymy and Cultural History, the motivations for the names of the remaining quilombola communities in the municipality of Água Branca-AL. Such motivations will be analyzed from an encyclopedic perspective, with the support of oral reports, which are fundamental for the definition of the toponym. Finally, we systematize the information by means of the completion of lexicographical sheets to achieve the proposed objectives. The heuristic procedures of the research are based on the methodological principles of oral history and toponymy. Through the lexicographical-toponymical sheets, we catalog, classify and interpret toponyms. The methodological approach relies on the instruments of data collection, such as semi-structured interviews with some of the older residents of these communities. The theoretical approach is based on Dick (1987), Seabra (2004), Carvalho (2012) and others. With regards to the preparation of the lexicographical record in the field of toponymy, we dialogued with the ideas of Dick (2004). The techniques of oral history are based on Ferreira and Amado (2006), from the perspective of Cultural History, especially Burke (2008). The results explained in the taxonomic classification indicate two litho-toponyms (Cal and Barro Preto), a hydro-toponym (Lagoa das Pedras), a geomorph-toponym (Serra das Viúvas), an anthropo-toponym (Moreira). Thus, we consider the sign of the toponym in an ethnolinguistic perspective, both in its structural aspect - spelling, form, origin - and discursive - semantic-historical. The understanding of the processes of naming these places is based on several elements, among them we can highlight racial ethnic aspects and appointment of the place with the productive process of raw material for civil construction, mainly for CHESF's work, which removed approximately four hundred buckets of lime (Cal) per week. In the process of naming this settlement there is a territorial flexibilization, in view of the confusion in the limits between Cal and Lagoa das Pedras. Referring to Serra das Viúvas geomorph-toponym, it can be affirmed that the origin is hypothetically linked to the presence of cangaço in the region. The analysis of the data referring to the litho-toponym of Barro Preto makes explicit a territorial overlap between the traditional, indigenous and quilombola communities. The anthropo-toponym Moreira de Baixo in its denotative sense has Portuguese origin and the subjects interviewed informed the ignorance of the origin of the name. However, they emphasized the importance of the oral tradition for the preservation of the collective memory about the origin of the name. Regarding the hydro-toponym Lagoa das Pedras, one can see that it had influence of the geographical characterization of the place in its appointment.