Configurações da interação na orla da Avenida Litorânea: incorporação do espaço social das praias do litoral norte ao cotidiano em São Luís

Abstract

This is a study of the symbolic boundaries set by city dwellers in the contemporary public social space of beaches located in the Litorânea Avenue in the city of São Luís. The historical formation in which passed the structure of the São Luís urban space is also investigated, from the earliest inhabitants Indians that we know at the time of the Portuguese conquest, through the pioneering core of European origin, even in the form of military camp, later succeeded by market town of palaces in Downtown Praia Grande, to which industries were added at the end of the nineteenth century, to the metropolis with modern layout extended northward. It is understood that, although located on the sea line, the inhabitants did not conceive the city as coastal. It is noted that, until the first half of the twentieth century, the expansion of the urban area was facing the interior of the island. The consequences and peculiarities of this change process in the city’s expansion vector are then analyzed, with the examination of resources trigged by its inhabitants in interactional settings that result in socio symbolic incorporation of the physical spaces of the waterfront, into the daily urban dynamics. Through a literature review some concepts are examined, such as city, space, place, interaction, sociability, considering in an interactionist theoretical perspective actions that elapses in the public social space. Finally, in a case study, through direct observation and interviews, are investigated the courses of the interactions on the beaches of São Marcos, Calhau and Olho-D’água, located on the north coast, on the perimeter of the Litorânea Avenue – iconic route for access to the beaches – where elapses the contemporary forms of sociability seaside. Thus, the links between city dwellers are comprehended, which allow reframing meanings on the articulated physical, interactional and social spaces on the northern coastline of São Luís.