PERSONAGENS DE FRONTEIRA

DIMENSÃO SIMBÓLICA DA COMUNICAÇÃO E DO CONSUMO MIDIÁTICO

Abstract

This paper seeks to establish a dialogue between theoretical and methodological proposals and reports of some activities that are being developed in the construction of the doctoral thesis in Social Communication, together with the Graduate Program in Communication of the Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM). The research began in 2023 and is in the conceptual construction and methodological contributions phase. The intention is to create a scenario of multidisciplinary juxtaposition between concepts of border space, Communication and media consumption. The “border characters” are the empirical objects that contribute as a source of information: the responses of these young Brazilian medical students in Santo Tomé/AR serve as a reference for the reflection of aspects of their intercultural daily life. The guiding problem of this articulation is to observe how the relationships of use are established - of these characters, with traditional means of communication, as well as with new information and communication technologies. The methodology is based on the ethnographic perspective of insertion in the research field, using tools such as in-depth interviews, observations and field diaries. In this sense, some interactions have been developed, that is, the objective is to carry out this movement of approach and individual interview with a total of twelve border characters by the end of the thesis in 2026. However, the work of mapping and making contacts began in 2024, thus allowing access to three volunteer characters. Therefore, it is the result of these initiatives that we intend to report here in this article, envisioning some notes and possibilities.