A literatura como espaço de memória nas celebrações dos 200 anos da imigração alemã e 150 anos da imigração italiana ao Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil
Literature as a space for memory during the celebrations marking 200 years of German and 150 years of Italian immigration to Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Summary/Abstract: Amidst the commemorations of the German bicentennial and the Italian sesquicentennial in Rio Grande do Sul, this study reveals how literature becomes a crucial arena for negotiating memory, identity and the symbolic legacy of European migrations. By revisiting the colonial past shaped by contested frontier territories, indigenous presence and shifting imperial ambitions, the text illuminates how migration waves emerged from economic pressures, political turmoil and promises of prosperity across the Atlantic. It examines how German and Italian immigrants built rural communities grounded in small-scale agriculture, craftsmanship and shared cultural practices that later evolved into economically vibrant regions marked by industrial advancement. Through the works of Josué Guimarães, Luiz Antonio de Assis Brasil and José Clemente Pozenato, the essay highlights how fiction transforms historical experience into narratives that explore hope, hardship, religious tension, social fragmentation and the cultural costs of modernization. These literary cycles trace the trajectory from settlement to conflict, from communal belonging to urban dispersion, exposing how identities are continuously reshaped across generations. As public celebrations revive symbols of perseverance, labor and cultural pride, the essay argues that literature acts as a mediator between past and present, offering imaginative frameworks that deepen contemporary understandings of migration. In doing so, it suggests that remembrance is never static but an ongoing reinterpretation in which fiction preserves, challenges and revitalizes collective memory.

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