Vapor “Benjamim Guimarães”. Patrimônio dos ribeirinhos do São Francisco

Abstract

Since its launch to the Sao Francisco River in the 1920s, the steam boat “Benjamim Guimaraes” has provided important services to the people of the river. Until the 1960s, it belonged to the fleet of shipping companies that contributed to the dynamics of regional economic system . After that, it became a tourist attraction. Since 1985, for its historical importance, it is on the list of registered properties as Heritage of the State of Minas Gerais. Our purpose is to demonstrate how the “Benjamim” takes part in the “market for inalienable goods” as stated in the theoretical proposition by the anthropologist Jose Reginaldo Goncalves (2007) without losing sight of its “polyphonic and hermeneutic statute” (LIMA FILHO, 2012) that characterizes it.