Antropologia e turismo: breves considerações sobre as praias do litoral do Piauí

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the relationship between anthropology and tourism of sea and sun, having the coast of Piauí as a privileged place for ethnographic interpretation. This coast offers an excellent field of observation of culture from an anthropological perspective, as in addition to the natural beauties, it has a diversity of activities (fishing, handicraft manufacturing, seafood production, construction of traditional boats, etc.) that contribute to the understanding of culture in multiple dimensions. In this work, we direct our analysis to the narratives of tourism workers about tourists who visit the coast of Piauí, seeking to access their views of the world. In the research process that supports this article, we used a combination of two strategies: the portion of the work that focuses on the relationship between anthropology and tourism, as well as the reflection on the points of convergence and divergence between these two areas was performed from bibliographic research; the part that analyzes the representations built by natives around sun and sea tourism on the coast of Piauí was worked through empirical data collected in loco from field research in the following locations: Barra Grande beach in the municipality of Cajueiro da Beach -PI; Atalaia beach and Coqueiro beach in the municipality of Luís Correia - PI; and Pedra do Sal beach in Parnaíba - PI. Tourism and anthropology are areas that have remained distant for a long time. Many factors may have contributed to this, but it is possible to affirm that there was, on the part of anthropology, a certain prejudice when considering tourism as a smaller area. Despite this, in recent decades there has been a greater dialogue, which can be verified by the increase in scientific publications both in the field of tourism and in the field of anthropology. We hope, through this work, to expand the synergy between tourism and anthropology, contributing to the proximity to be fruitful and lasting.