Cartography and literary tourism in the backlands of Rosa

Abstract

“Cartography and literary tourism” aims to present a “way of doing things” used in the process of cartographic representation of the territory of the childhood and work of the writer João Guimarães Rosa. The result of an extension project that is based on dialogue with the community, visitors, students and teachers at the Federal University of Minas Gerais. This project is conceived based on the following pillars: geography, cartography and literary tourism. Thus, references from the literary universe in the geography of the place are used to draw literary maps, which come to represent a literary geography of places. These maps begin to “tell” a story, from a perspective, whether that of the plot, the story of the work itself or that of a certain character or even the story of the writer, presenting the testimonial territory of the literary work. Based on these maps and the studies carried out, it is possible to create poetic representations of routes through the hinterland of Rosa, supported by design, which provoke the visitor's imagination regarding the material and immaterial heritage of the hinterland, its people and its landscape.