SUJEITOS OCULTOS NA PAISAGEM: DESVELANDO A CULTURA MATERIAL E O TRABALHO HUMANO

Abstract

This text considers labor as a relevant record of human presence in landscapes. Energy expenditure and human effort, as well as intentions and power relations among people, leave marks on the landscape. We present the results of field research realized in diverse areas of the Southeast region of Brazil, in the Atlantic Forest biome. We highlight the process of invisibilisation of human labor in the landscape, especially the enslaved labor in the Paraíba do Sul River Valley, and the labor and energy production in the studied forests during the nineteenth century. We propose two ways to reveal the hidden labor in the landscape, the dialogical and dialectical approach, and the acknowledgement of the work of people who shaped the landscapes.