Dentro e fora das quatro linhas: o futebol como instrumento de transformação histórica no município de Constantina-RS

Abstract

This dissertation investigates amateur football as a constitutive element of community life in the municipality of Constantina, in the northwest of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. It analyzes how family ties, rivalries, religiosity, work, and leisure practices are articulated around the sport and transmitted through intergenerational memories and causos (anecdotes). The objective is to map the formation of rural and urban communities that comprised Constantina between 1950 and 1970 and to identify the presence of football in local community building, considering the different cultural matrices of the municipality—Italian and German immigration, caboclos, the presence of descendants of enslaved and formerly enslaved Black people, and Kaingang and Guarani Ñandeva indigenous groups located in the Serrinha Indigenous Land (Pinheiro Ralo/Fág Kavá). The temporal scope prioritizes social and territorial transformations that precede municipal emancipation processes (Liberato Salzano, 1964; Engenho Velho, 1992; Novo Xingu, 1996), mobilized as an interpretive key to understand cultural differences and their impacts on the dynamics of football. Methodologically, the research is based on Oral History, articulated with Pierre Nora's (1993) reflections on memory and the debate on football and culture in Damo (2003), in addition to Thompson (1963) to consider disputes as forms of culture and leisure. The main sources are 30 interviews with individuals linked to football in the studied communities, complemented by bibliographic records on local history (Santos, 2011; Carini, 2024). The results indicate that football acted as a space for sociability, belonging, and identity affirmation, influencing community organization, the relationship with religiosity, and forms of leisure, while simultaneously highlighting inequalities in access to resources, information, and infrastructure among the different groups. It is concluded that football, both inside and outside the four lines, constitutes an instrument of historical transformation and preservation of memories, contributing to strengthening local self-esteem and expanding regional historical records.