“É o Rio da História, da História do Brasil”

Luiz de Menezes Medeiros Neto e a historiografia do rio São Francisco nos anos 1940

Abstract

This article seeks to place the book History of San Francisco (1941), by priest Luiz de Menezes Medeiros Neto (1914-1992), in the intellectual context of the Estado Novo (1937-1945). In continuity with the narratives about the potential of the São Francisco River, from the second half of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, the historian provides an interesting case study to reflect the convergence between historiographical production and political discourse in what concerns refers to the São Francisco River to think about the destiny of Brazil as a nation. Differing from other writers of the 1940s, focused on reporting and essays, the cleric sought to articulate regional and national memories to establish a historical synthesis of São Francisco as the basis of authentic, country-side Brazil. In it we discuss the political uses of history are articulated - past, present and future - to define the river as fundamental to the integration of the territory and a model for confronting the “racial issue”, in accordance with Getúlio Vargas' policies at the time.