Pedra do Sal: reflections on authenticity at a site of memory in Rio De Janeiro

Purpose This paper aims to examine how a historical perspective in marketing illuminates the role of Pedra do Sal in Rio de Janeiro as a contested site of memory and to analyze how established and emerging forms of memory shape contemporary representations of authenticity and cultural consumption. Design/methodology/approach The study adopts a qualitative, historical-hermeneutic approach, drawing on secondary and archival data from 12 official institutions and analyzing them through Nora’s tripartite framework for sites of memory: material foundations, symbolic aura and functional mechanisms. Findings Pedra do Sal evolved from a site marked by the trauma of enslavement into a symbol of Afro-Brazilian resistance and, more recently, a contemporary space of cultural celebration, tourism and identity affirmation. Authenticity functions both as a mechanism of cultural resistance and as a market asset that subaltern communities mobilize against state-led gentrification in Rio de Janeiro’s Port Zone. Originality/value The paper extends Nora’s concept of lieux de mémoire to a Latin American postcolonial urban context, contributing to historical research in marketing by demonstrating how memory, authenticity and the commodification of heritage intersect at an Afro-Brazilian site of memory.