The construction of civic space: monuments and rituals of memory in republican Natal (1902-1922)

ABSTRACT This article analyzes the formation process of civic space in Natal between 1902 and 1922. We seek to comprehend the central role of local historians and of Instituto Histórico e Geográfico do Rio Grande do Norte (Historical and Geographical Institute of Rio Grande do Norte) in the construction of a public republican memory through the assemblage of artifacts, the attribution of new meanings to public sites and the practice of civic rituals. This research aims to understand how the practice of naming and renaming streets and public parks, creating squares, the carving and installation of statues, busts, tombstones, hermas and paintings, the identification of “historical sites” and the construction of places built to house collected relics and “historical objects”, as well as for the historical celebration of noteworthy characters and events that were important when constructing a collective identity in which the historical consciousness should have a critical role.