Largo São Domingos : urbanidades negras, racialização e a imprensa carioca (1902-1928)

Abstract

This dissertation aims to analyze the former Largo de São Domingos, in Rio de Janeiro, between 1902 and 1928, focusing on urban interventions, the racialization of the territory, and the activities recorded by newspapers of the time. Located in the central area of the city, the square was impacted by the urban reforms of Rodrigues Alves and Pereira Passos during and after the reforms, as evidenced by the racialization of the space and mobilization of the population in the 1910s and 1920s. The study uses newspapers of the time, such as Jornal do Brasil and Correio da Manhã, O Paiz, Manhã, Jornal do Commercio, among others, to examine urban transformations and how they reinforced discourses of degradation, whitening, and progress during the period. The research investigates the social and racial dynamics associated with the space, from the perspective of whitening of the territory, memory, and urbanities. We will also highlight how the Largo was a space of cultural diversity, marked by religious, cultural, and work activities. The research addresses its importance as a meeting place for workers, commerce, and cultural events, in addition to exploring the racial practices, hygienist policies, and interventions that shaped and erased its memory. Finally, the dissertation proposes an interdisciplinary reading, articulating history, geography, and urban planning, to contribute to the narrative of a black city and rescue the relevance of Largo de São Domingos as a black urbanity.