Belenense suburban carnival

leisure and social tensions on the banks of the Guamá river in the middle of the last century.

Abstract

This article deals with carnival festivities in neighborhoods located on the banks of the Guamá River (Guamá, Condor, and Jurunas), reported on the pages of newspapers (A Província do Pará, Jornal do Dia, and O Liberal) that circulated in the capital of Pará, in the middle of the last century. In these parts, an urban dynamic was identified in which recreational and social experiences stood out, marked by strong police surveillance and which, through complaints or negative representations about those locations, became constant, inhibiting and monitoring the experiences of these subjects. The multiple ways of living in those areas, as well as perceiving them, expressed through the relationships that were established daily and often brought together or distanced those who passed through there, allowed them to be seen as a founding part of a festive culture in Belém, a culture that, throughout that time, was of interest not only to suburban residents but also to people who identified with it.