INTRODUCTION
The idea is to talk about regional mythology and analyze the origin of the gaucho from another point of view. Through myths, legends and stories and it is possible to know the sources that helped to build the identity of the gauchos.
Studying the social imaginary of Rio Grande do Sul is being able to travel in its legends, myths, stories, literature and customs of the gaucho. Its identity was formed by diverse cultures and synthesized by values collected over the centuries. Antônio Augusto Fagundes, folklorist and anthropologist, defines the gaucho as a cultural and non-ethnic being, formed by the contributions of different cultures that occupied the southern Brazilian territory.
The myth of the gaucho as a hero is seen by most scholars as an ideological construction of dominant groups in a region that includes Argentina, Uruguay and southern Brazil and , it is the figure of the hero, country man that defends the territory of foreigners, almost always called \”Castilians\” (ARENDT, 2003).
Simões Lopes Neto has created his character, Blau Nunes, with the characteristics that he imagined in an authentic gaucho, which is the multiplier of the stories through his stories. \”The Gaucho Tales\” (own translation), published in 1912, carrying the blood, the passion in a few words, the way in which old Blau, showing the life of the gauchos, sometimes with some violence, but always respecting the logic, or even the intrinsic values such as respect, honesty and trust. Even when we read The Gaucho Tales, the voice that comes to mind is the one of Blau Nunes, which is really the voice of Simões Lopes Neto, the soul, the source of inspiration and interpretation. Simões Lopes contributed to a nice documentation of the popular gaucho.
The social imaginary is defined by the search for understanding and the organization of the human being, so that each individual finds its place and reason for being in time and space.
The imaginary results of a wide range of images, symbols and rites, the set of collective or individual experiences of a society.
\”As the myth is one of the ways in which a community is organized in society, an imaginary was built around the myth where each element has its place in the social scale and its reason for being\” (ARENDT, 2003) .
THE GAUCHO OF LOPES NETO
An important point is the myth of the relationship with the social imaginary. The mythical stories would be used by political actors as a way to promote social cohesion. When analyzing the relationship between human religiosity and the social imaginary, they are perceptible to the various uses throughout human history, which sought to legitimize the social order through the application of the sacred.
“ The imaginary works as a regulating force of collective life through which identities are formed\” (BACZKO, 1986). Civic rites, within this perspective, emerge as a key mechanism to strengthen the social imaginary power of the existing order and the differences in society. The social imaginary is now used to explain the progress of civilization and Marxist interpretations of the social imaginary of the analysis of ideologies in accordance with positivist ideas.
\”The imagination of a community makes this community what it is, because like an atmosphere, the imagination is capable of producing new images\” (MAFFESOLI, 2001). In the myths, legends and stories we can see the origin and even imagine the battles and wars that built this being that we define today as the gaucho.
In his work, Simões Lopes Neto portrays the gaucho and his territory and how he lived. The myth of the gaucho as a hero, a rustic and strong man, guide of the pampas.
M Boitatá
It is said among the gauchos that in the night it looks like a strong fire and sometimes in the form of a snake, flies in front of the gaucho caravans, preventing them to go on in order to protect the land. There is a belief among rural people that Boitatá is attracted to iron. The way to get rid of it is to attack it using a lasso and drag it around. In the Simões Lopes Neto version, the fire serpent is identified as the giant serpent that feeds on the eyes of animals.
Negrinho do Pastoreio
The legend was born from the memories of peasants, and is marked by terror and cruelty, mixed with the desire for compensation and should be filtered religiously. Several factors have contributed to this legend, from lower forms of beliefs, still visible today, to the deep vibration of human solidarity that became the symbol of a career.
The boy was an orphan slave who belonged to a rich, cruel and arrogant land owner. He suffered many tortures and injuries, being mistreated by everyone, including the land owner\’s sons. Once, after losing track of one of his master\’s horses, the boy was beaten without mercy. His almost lifeless body was then left at the top of a giant anthill, so that he could be devoured by the ants. On the next day, the land owner, his soul tormented by his acts, went back to the anthill but didn\’t find the poor boy\’s body. Instead, he met the Virgin Mary along with the boy, who was her godson, healthy and happy, riding a wild horse and herding a drove of invisible horses. Simões Lopes stylized, put in the introduction of a scene, the Virgin Mary, to be the godmother of the black slave child, the godmother of the injustice, giving the boy a perfect grace light after death. The legend of the little boy is genuinely from the Rio Grande, born of slavery and that reflects the environment, power, and religiosity that is associated with the greatest number of slaves considered martyrs.
Salamanca do Jarau
The scenario of the legend is Cerro Jarau, formed by a chain of hills, which stand out in the landscape of the gaucho pampa, in the municipality of Cuareim. Simões Lopes Neto developed the theme with elements that emerged from local superstitions as we have the cave of Salamanca in Spain. This legend tells the story of the sacristan that gave himself to magic, surrounded by temptation. Another point presented is the Muslim occupation of the
Iberian Peninsula, the enchanted princess, the hidden treasures shown in the form of a snake, lizard, anthrax or teiniagud, an original Guarani element of the new world.
O Mate de João Cardoso
In the stories of Lopes Neto, his language, represents sensitivity and a spontaneous regionalism as a master of narration. “ O Mate de João Cardoso “ is one of the most popular Simões’ stories, highlighting the tradition inherited from the natives, the companion of hospitality in the sharing of the mate, typical drink of the gaucho, socialization, solidarity and brotherhood of the rural man. It goes further, showing a period of history that the means were scarce and the news came from the travellers who passed through the countries, already so poor, but without losing the typical hospitality of the gaucho.
When travellers passed in front of the old house of João Cardoso, they were invited to take a mate, to tell the news of the cities and the other farms. He offered a mate and asked the servant to serve it, the latter said: \”Milord, there is no more erva\” (erva being a kind of tea used to make the mate) and João Cardoso said: \”Bring some then!\”. Hours would pass and the mate would not come, prompting the guests to leave. The mates of João Cardoso became a synonym when someone wants to say that something is so time-consuming, “it\’s like João Cardoso\’s mate.”
Trezentas Onças
It was summer and Blau Nunes was travelling, buying cattle, at the request of his boss’ office. Feeling very hot, he decided to bathe in a stream. After fretting up, rested, he followed on his path. When he arrived at the office, where he was going to spend the night, he realized that he had forgotten his money belt near the stream. He turned around and came back for it. On the road, he was crossed by a delegation that went to the office, but he did not stop, he was in a hurry. When he arrived back at the stream. the money was not there. He thought about ending his life, but decided to tell his boss that he lost the money. Back at the office, upon entering, he saw his money belt on the desk, with three hundred ounces of gold. It had been found by the delegation that crossed him at the road, and the money belt was returned to its owner. It reminds us of honesty and trust, elements present in the values of the gaucho.
FINAL CONSIDERATIONS
According to Levi Strauss (1975), the man is a social being, since he produces symbols. These symbols were built to a world organization and myths arise, thus producing social relations between men. So we see to this day a strong portrait of a social being known as gaucho in the social imaginary of people not only in Rio Grande do Sul but in all of Brazil. The man who is described in the work analyzed, was perpetuated with the classic image of a country man, rustic and courageous to this day. The social identity of the gauchos is connected with their mythologies and legends.
Franz Boas (1916) says that the unwritten stories of a society say the most about their culture and quote: \”The incidents of daily life that are of importance will appear\” so all the myths in the literature of Lopes Neto are very important as a record and a way to maintain the culture of social identity of the gaucho through history.
REFERENCES
ARENDT, João Cláudio. O Imaginário Social em João Simões de Lopes Neto. En Metis: História e Cultura. Volume 2, # 4. Julho/Dezembro 2003.
BACZKO, Bronislaw. Imaginário Social. Lisboa, Anthropos Homem #5, 1986.
BOAS, Franz. Tsimshin Mythology. 31st Annual Report. Bureau of American Ethnology. Washington ,1916.
LEVI STRAUSS, Claude. Antropologia Cultural. Editora Tempo Brasileiro. 1975.
LOPES NETO, João Simões. Contos Gauchescos e Lendas do Sul. Porto Alegre: L&PM 2014.
MAFFESOLI, Michel. O Imaginário Social É Uma Realidade. En Revista Famecos, Porto Alegre, PUCRS #15 2001
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