COMO UM CHEIRO DE ALECRIM - Notas sobre memória, identidade e gênero nas trajetórias de imigrantes portugueses no Rio de Janeiro

Abstract

This research was carried out based on life reports. Interviews were conducted with ten Portuguese immigrants who settled in cities in the state of Rio de Janeiro, aged between 75 and 92 years old, five women and five men, at different stages of life, socioeconomic background, marital status and social class. The main objective was to investigate, from the life trajectories of each interlocutor, the reasons for immigration, the conduct of life in the place of departure and in the place of reception (Brazil), work relations, socialization, belonging and the provisional / definitive character immigration. Through the presentation of the reports, I approach immigration, gender and class as markers of the difference. In the analyzed group, this negotiation between women and men is marked by tensions insofar as this group needs to negotiate established views about the roles and representations around the female and male. The division between two groups - women and men - showed different perceptions, mainly about the reasons for immigration and about the place occupied in the place of reception. In this context, “gender” was used as an essential element in formulating what it means to be Portuguese / Portuguese living in Brazil.