Heritage protection of Terreiro da Casa Branca: representations and discursive approval of Iphan’s editorial line regarding the expansion of heritage protection policies

ABSTRACT

Based on the discursive practices used by the National Historic and Artistic Heritage Institute’s (Iphan) editorial, specifically on the publications Boletim Sphan/Pró-Memória and Revista do Patrimônio, this paper analyzes the narrative built around the heritage protection process of the candomblé Terreiro da Casa Branca, located in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. Debates regarding this protection process, allied to different discursive strategies employed by authors, associate this process with the expansion of Iphan’s heritage protection policies in the 1980s. Other experiences within Iphan, such as the listing of Serra da Barriga, located in the state of Alagoas, are not considered part of such expansion, being overshadowed or understood as synonym of the Terreiro’s case. This is due, among other reasons, to the understanding of what a cultural heritage was at that time. Analyzing this process contributes to elucidate how a certain social and cultural context is restricted within Iphan’s editorial line in favor of a single experience, and this prevents advancements in the valorization of Afro-Brazilian heritage.

KEYWORDS:
Terreiro da Casa Branca; Heritage Protection Process; Editorial; Iphan