Celebrations of Italiannes: Italian immigration in Rio Grande do Sul and schools, between memory and history (1924-1926)

The mass migrations that occurred from the 19th to the 20th century are characterized by the construction of traditions and identity processes in which school played a major role. There was a broad range of forms and initiatives by means of which local authorities and Brazilian policies on the one hand, and Italian on the other sought to mediate identities. The settlement of groups of immigrants in the colonization areas of Rio Grande do Sul (RS) at the end of 1875 was progressively accompanied by the rise of small municipalities carrying the names of their cities of origin, such as New Rome, New Vicenza, New Padua, or recalling Garibaldi, the hero “of two worlds”, as well as other toponyms that mark the ethnic bonds. As the municipalities developed, other identity and celebratory markers of Italian ethnicity appeared, with the inauguration of squares and schools, mutual aid societies, clubs and sociability spaces such as chapels and their surroundings in rural areas. They formed memory spaces that (re)invented traditions and negotiated customs and ways of life that were seen as “Italian”. The objective of this text is to analyze the pedagogical value of the commemorative practices between Italiannes and Brazilness, that took place in the colonization areas of Rio Grande do Sul as builders of memories and ethnic identity processes taking school into account. The methodological procedures employed were the historical document analysis of the empirical body consisting of consular reports, press, letters and photographs. A look is taken at ethnic celebrations, especially those commemorating the 50th anniversary of immigration (1925) which were expressions of the ethnic identity processes that educated and highlighted ethnicity and can be considered from the viewpoint of negotiation between Italiannes and Brazilness.