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Geoparks and Geostories: Ideas of Nature Underlying the UNESCO Araripe Basin Project and Contemporary “Folk” Narratives

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 September 2022

Candace Slater
Candace Slater*
Affiliation:
University of California, Berkeley
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Abstract

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This article analyzes two sets of narratives that describe the area contained within the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) Araripe Basin Geopark, the first such geological preserve in the Americas. The first group includes scientific-sounding accounts of fossils, sediments, and geological formations. The second is a series of “folk” stories that describe the sacred geography of a part of the northeastern Brazilian backlands best known for their economic backwardness and religious mysticism. Although at first glance the two sets of narratives appear wholly divergent, both treat the natural world as ancient, fluid, composed of interrelated elements, mysterious, and deeply worthy of protection. These shared conceptions have important policy implications in strategizing a sustainable tourism that will preserve the region's geological and cultural heritage while bringing economic benefits to the local population.

Resumo

Resumo

Este artículo analiza dos conjuntos de narrativas que describen el área comprendida por el Geoparque de la Cuenca de Araripe, la primera de tales reservas geológicas en América. El primer grupo de narrativas incluye descripciones de tipo científico de fósiles, sedimentos y procesos de formación geológica. La segunda es una serie de historias populares que describe la geografía sagrada de una parte apartada del noreste brasileño mejor conocido por su retraso económico y su misticismo religioso. Aunque a primera vista ambos conjuntos de narrativas parecen ser completamente divergentes, ambas tratan el mundo natural como algo antiguo, fluido, compuesto de elementos interrelacionados, misterioso y profundamente necesitado de protección. Estas concepciones compartidas tienen importantes consecuencias políticas a la hora de plantear una estrategia turística sostenible que preserve la herencia geológica y cultural de la región y traiga beneficios económicos a la población local.

Type
Research Article
Information
Latin American Research Review , Volume 46 , Issue S1: Contemporary Debates on Ecology, Society, and Culture in Latin America , 2011 , pp. 159 - 183
Copyright
Copyright © 2011 by the University of Texas Press

Footnotes

Earlier versions of this article were delivered at “Imaging the Environment: Maps, Models, and Metaphors,” Woods Institute for the Environment and Stanford University Humanities Center, November 2006, and the International Symposium on Geoparks sponsored by the State Government of Ceará in Fortaleza, November 2008, as well as the Latin American Studies Association Congress in Rio de Janeiro, June 2009. I place “folk” as well as “traditional” in quotes because of negative connotations accruing to both terms in many parts of Latin America today. The Brazilian military's staunch support of the Campaign for the Defense of Folklore of the 1960s and 1970s explains part of this negative attitude.

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