Virgulino cartografado: relações de poder e territorializações do cangaceiro Lampião (1920-1928)

Abstract

This work investigates the relations of power and processes of territorialization that the cangaceiro1 Virgulino Ferreira da Silva, better known as Lampião2 (1898-1938), constructed through the establishment of a network of protectors and coiteiros3 and in counterpoint to a network of opponents, between the years of 1920 and 1928, in the states of Pernambuco, Alagoas, Paraíba, Ceará and Rio Grande do Norte. Here the space of the cangaço lampiônico4 is not understood as given and pre-established, but as a result of the games of power and of the multiple relations this cangaceiro has dealt with prominent subjects of the sertaneja5 politics in the context of the First Republic. The territory is perceived here in its procedural dimension making it possible to interpret Lampião's actions as producers of multiple territories, which have gained diverse spatial configurations, such as: networked territories, territories in zones or territories in movement. Three types of sources were explored in this research: the newspapers, which published news about Lampião, between the years 1920-1928; the police reports; and the memorialist bibliography about the cangaço and the band of Lampião. Starting from the problematization of these productions and the dialogue with the historiography of the theme, I try to understand how the multiple territorializations of the cangaceiro Lampião took place.