VIEWS ON THE HUMAN: THE BACKLANDS OF SOUTHERN BRAZIL (1889-1905)

Abstract

This article consists of a proposal for the analysis of reports resulting from Brazilian expeditions to the border with Argentina between 1889 and 1905, where today is the province of Misiones (Argentina) and the southwestern regions of Paraná and west region of Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul, on the Brazilian side. Our analysis seeks to expand the idea of frontier as a demarcation line to see it as a borderland, idealized by travelers as a sertão to be formally occupied by the State. We realized that the manifested comprehension of the sertanejos of this inland region was crossed by several nuances, mainly related to the fact that this transnational space did not have a real demarcated border yet.