Imaginary and representation feminine in the mythical narrative of matintaperera, Acarpará – Bragança/Pa

Abstract

This paper intends to analyze the myth of matintaperera narrated in the city of Bragança/PA as the objective of understanding the construction of the myth, how the imaginary is woven around the Matinta and how this is approximate of the image of the witch/sorceress. Therefore, the theoretical framework that guides this research is based on the following theorists: about imaginary: Mafessoli (2001) and Durand (1998); symbolism: Gheerbrant and Chevalier (2009); witchcraft: Ginzburg (1988), Souza (1986, 1987) and Kramer and Sprenger (1991). The methodology passes the field of oral history and ethnography precisely because it is a field research but also literature. Identifies that the witches bragantinas (the matintapereras) appear in the nights to arouse fear in those who remain awake, they receive tobacco or coffee as sacrifice (MAUSS, 2003, 2005) to cease their attacks that haunt who spend sleepless night, but they are also social constructions of femininity, a discourse that attaches to another the inferior condition or nefarious within society, a social exclusion.