Memoricídio e territorialidades negras: uma geografia histórica do bairro da Liberdade através da HQ "Mukanda Tiodora"

Abstract

This research investigates the Historical Geography of the Liberdade neighborhood in the city of São Paulo, aiming to understand how the process of space production operated a memoricide of Black territorialities in favor of consolidating an exclusively Oriental identity. The study uses as its main analytical tool and geohistorical document the comic book “Mukanda Tiodora,” by Marcelo D’Salete, which reconstructs the landscape and daily life of the Black population in 1866 based on real letters from the enslaved Teodora Dias da Cunha. Methodologically, the work is based on the perspective of Maurício de Abreu, articulating diachronic and synchronic dimensions to analyze spatial transformations. The investigation confronts the hegemonic narrative that limits the neighborhood's identity to Japanese immigration, rescuing the nuances of the Afro-Brazilian presence in landmarks such as the old Largo da Forca, the Capela dos Aflitos, and the Igreja do Rosário dos Homens Pretos. This work discusses how the “Oriental Plan,” implemented in the 1970s, promoted a deliberate “orientalization” of the neighborhood for tourism and marketing purposes, deepening the symbolic erasure of Black roots. Finally, the dissertation examines contemporary political and symbolic disputes in Praça Liberdade África-Japão, highlighting the renaming of the public space and the installation of the statue of Madrinha Eunice as mechanisms of decolonial resistance and an attempt to restore the dignity of silenced historical subjects.