The legend of the Caboclo D’água: a folkcommunicative enunciative trajectory

Abstract

Truth or not, the fact is that the Caboclo D’água’s legend, present in various Brazilian cities, is more alive than never. From 2009 up till now, the legend transformed itself into a mediatic phenomenon, with one of the most immediate implications being the inauguration of a two-meter-high statue at Barra Longa’s city entrance (Minas Gerais/Brazil) and the creation of a Ghost Hunter Association, dedicating itself to capturing the Caboclo D’água - the association even offering a R$ 10,000.00 reward to who succeeds in taking a picture of the creature. Moreover, the present work aims at analyzing, from the discursive point of view, the modern (re)construction of the legend through mediatic means and dwellers claiming to have seen the creature. Furthermore, we intend to reflect on the impacts of mediatization suffered by the legend, from its discursive construction point of view. The theoretical contribution we used is linked to Foucault’s archive concept (1995), folkcommunication (BELTRÃO, 1967), folkmedia (LUYTEN, 2002), and Bravin’s reflections (2011) on the legend’s mediatic repercussion in newspapers and on the Internet.