Symbols of Paraná in different kinds of cultural expressions

ABSTRACT: The “azure jay” and the “pine tree” are among the most acknowledged representative symbols from Parana State in Brazil. They have been referenced by many different kinds of artistic expressions, such as theater, poetry and music. Along the years the tales about these cultural images have inspired regional and nationally recognized poets, writers and composers. In this perspective, considering the importance of these local symbols, this paper aims to verify how distinct kinds of artistic production, such as literary and musical works, depict these acknowledged symbols. So, as corpus to this research we took three texts. The first one is the song Gralha azul (1968), composed by Inami Custódio Pinto, which is considered one of the most outstanding songs of the cultural repertoire from Parana State. The second one is the poem Araucária (1999), by Helena Kolody. The third one is A lenda do pinheiro e a gralha azul (1972), which is in the first publication about blue azure jay’s tales, the book A sombra dos pinheirais (1925), by Eurico Branco Ribeiro. We analyze some lexical units such as “azure jay”, “pine tree” and “pinion”, trying to describe their meanings conveyed by the selected artistic work. The theoretical basis that guides this work are the Lexicology and Lexicography studies (BIDERMAN, 2001a, 2001b, 2001c), discussing the existing relation between lexicon, society and culture.   KEYWORDS: Lexicon; Symbols of Parana; Culture of Parana.