Espaços de lazer e cultura popular: uma abordagem sobre os museus do Centro Histórico de São Luís

Abstract

The qualitative stydy aims to investigate the appropriation of popular culture museums as leisure venues, taking as reference the analysis on Casa de Nhozinho and Casa da Fésta, museum venues located in the Historic Center of city of São Luís, Maranhão. It is understood that the museological venues are set as leisure venues by excellence, referenced and publicized by the possibilities of promoting significant educational and tourist activities, albeit this playful role is not utterly regarded and perceived as part of the museum context. In this perspective, the study contributes to the debate on the promotion and (re) utilization of the potential of Sao Luis Historic Center, based on this specific focus, that is: visitors' leisure experiences in the museum venues of São Luis popular culture. A theoretical approach is adopted in authors' perspective such as Dumazedier, Gomes, Marcellin, Poulot, Canclini and Bourdieu, underpinning the discussion amongst the categories of museum, venues of popular culture and leisure. The course of the study has also included a field survey, in which 42 subjects participates, among visitors and managers of aforementioned museums. The collected data were addressed and analyzed as per the content analysis procedures. The main results have shown that for both (visitors and managers), the places investigated (Casa de Nhozinho and Casa da Fésta) are understood as leisures venues, a view expressed by what the museum provides in its totality: knowledge, fun and enterrainment. Specifically under the visitors' standpoint , the visit represents a leisure activity whose main motivational factor was the interest in getting to know the local popular culture. Therefore, the study has revealed that museums, as venues propitious to popular culture, are appropriated as leisure venues, subsidized in the laws and guidelines that rule their operation and acting as environments that provide the interaction between education and playfulness.