From Colonial City to Space of Modernity: the introduction of sports in urban life of Rio de Janeiro

• Autor(a) principal: Jesus, Gilmar Mascarenhas de
• Data de Publicação: 1999
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Estudos Históricos (Rio de Janeiro)
• Texto Completo: https://periodicos.fgv.br/reh/article/view/2086
• topic: Rio de Janeiro (estado)

This article describes an original research exploring the connections between social-spatial dynamics of Rio de Janeiro city in the onset of modernity and the introduction of sport practices in urban life. We conceive social-spatial dynamics as the system comprising the objects of urban materiality and their respective social practices of appropriation. We found that during the colonial period Brazilian urbanization was incipient and had markedly few public spaces, limitedly used. We consider the modernization process, which started in middle 19th century, as generating an increasing dinamization of the urban public spaces. In this context, we believe that the massive introduction of sports in urban life is an expression of this movement, as seen in official archives and in the specific literature. Some of the radical urban reforms promoted in the city stemmed from a new materiality demanding new social uses. At the same time, the old places were affected by new social agents. We present and debate some aspects of this broad movement of adoption, ritualization and exhibition of sporting practices using the transition of Rio de Janeiro city from colonial to modern space as an example.