Sertão, civilização e progresso olhares sobre a fronteira Brasil-Paraguai-Argentina (1896-1937)

Abstract

This essay analizes the memories fixed by important part of West Paraná’s historiography borned in the 1980s, that approaches the bordering region during the end of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th. Therefore, reexamines the main evidence used by theese studies, books with traveling memories –written by militaries in mission forthe Brazilian army or by State Parana’s authorities –, to whom proposes a new interpretation. Although the centrality given by the regional historiography to the theme “desnationalization of the border” –derivated from the strong foreign presence (specially Argentine and Paraguayan) and the commercial dominance of Posadas in the region –advocates more attention for the ways how, in the studied time –when the place was considered as a “hard wilderness”, “inhospitable’ and “impenetrable” –, the place was underestanded as without “progress”. Defends that the “progress” idea was the most important notion to build the negative approach about the region, at this studied time, and the other elements –mentioned above –where derivated from this idea.