"Minha divina Santa Bárbara, mãe, venha ver seu mundo": as memórias do Babassuê e do Batuque de Santa Bárbara nos terreiros da Pedreira em Belém do Pará

Abstract

This master's thesis aims to analyze the memory productions of the Babassuê and Batuques de Santa Bárbara performed by Afro-religious practitioners during the celebration of Santa Bárbara’s day in the terreiro of the Pedreira neighborhood in Belém do Pará. The research starts in 1938, using the records from the Folkloric Research Mission regarding the work of Satiro Ferreira de Barros, as well as the traces related to his brother Pedro Paulo Vilhena, known as Pedro Satyro. The career of these two Afro-religious figures from Pedreira marks the beginning of the Babassuê memory thread. The investigation concludes in the present time, with ethnographies conducted at the Terreiro de Mina Nagô Santa Bárbara in 2021, 2022, and 2023. The central question is to understand the importance of the deity Santa Bárbara and the spirit Maria Bárbara Soeira within the Afro-religious calendar, considered by Afro-religious practitioners as the patroness of Mina Nagô. Additionally, it reflects on the meanings of memory as observed through the generations of the saint’s followers, who are key figures in the identity construction of Pedreira, a neighborhood known for its “samba and love” and Afro-religiosity.