The paulista territory: an existential look beyond the old maps

Abstract

Paulistânia had been called as the origin action field of a human being who would later be designated in the sociological and anthropological literature as “caipira”, a type of man who contemplated a way of life linked to the lusts of the field work. However, in the colonial period, this territory would have imaginary contours, where it would primarily be recognized by the presence of points of residence with dwellings characterized by the techniques used by this human being both the purpose of their survival and the aid of a landscape, providing them with important relationship in the midst of the forests and paths to be explored. In this way, these dwellings was the nodal point of the emergence of this territory, offering an integration guided by the factor "time" and denouncing the passage or permanence of the mameluco in this region. At the time, this territory consisted of a vast area that encompassed the regions of present-day states of São Paulo, Paraná, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso and Goiás, a field of influence and exploration of the old São Paulo in the Bandeirista and Entradista incursions. Over time, this territory was being distributed in administrative areas and reduced to the lands of São Paulo. However, wherever there was the human type in question and the marks of its material and immaterial culture, there was Paulistânia, as recorded in the literature. However, this article also attempts to present Paulistânia as the origin of the development of the drama related to the caipira´s existence, becoming not only a framework of causal relations between man and struggle, but also a symbol of human problems, which is a man who has the need to build yourself and also build a world for yourself.