CORRESPONDENCE AND SOCIABILITY: analysis of Afonso Pereira's Christmas cards (decades of 1970 and 1990)

Abstract

This work treats about Professor Afonso Pereira’s relations having as a source of memory and information 1.380 Christmas Cards received by him in the decades of the 70s and 90s. The analysis has been done with the purpose to search a better improvement of our studies, which represents aspects related to the Memory as well as it identifies the Memory Institutions, detaching their importance in keeping precious information, special attention to the Personal Files, putting in evidence Professor Afonso Pereira’s one. Our work analyzes the quality of Afonso Pereira’s relationships specifying them from the use of this correspondents forms of treatment. It shows the Christmas Cards importance as an odd but authentic informational support in the search for perspectives of information. In this perspective we could testify that the large chain ofProfessor Afonso Pereira’s correspondents is also very variable, so it includes political and religious men, institutions and so on. Many of these relations surpass simple social or professional bonds to become affective, ever lasting and ineffable ones.