Territorial identity in germanic festivals in the south of Brazil

Abstract

This article gives an analytical description of an ethnographic research about the Festival do Chucrute (Sauerkraut Festival)’s 47th edition, which takes place in the Taquari River Valley, in the State of Rio Grande do Sul, every year since 1966. This festival highlights the cultural heritage of the region paying tribute to the German immigration occurred at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. The research is based on cultural studies as a theoretical reference to understand the process of constructing territorial identity through the action of local actors and their cultural expressions. The article establishes relationships between theory and social practice, providing elements to understand how territories are culturally self-labeled using strategies that include the organization of their cultural expressions, which result from disputes and symbolic agreements between their agents.