Introduction: African (Black) Diaspora History, Latin American History

Abstract

Inspired in part by Paul Gilroy's Black Atlantic paradigm, the past several years have witnessed a reinvigoration of Black Studies, with careful attention being paid to the approaches and methods of writing black history.2 The terms "African Diaspora" and "Black Diaspora" have become almost commonplace in scholarly discourse, emerging out of relative obscurity from their roots in the politically inspired Pan-Africanist and Civil Rights discourses of the 1950s and '60s.3 Critiques of the Black Atlantic model and its overly narrow concentration on the English-speaking world have fueled new and important discussions that have touched fields and subfields well beyond the traditional boundaries of Black Studies.4 While the internationalist perspective of Black Studies (particularly in the U.S. academy) [End Page 1] is not new,5 it is not too much to say that perhaps, for the moment, the recent academic enhancement of Black Studies has transformed blackness into a "hot" counter-narrative, offering new and keen perspectives on traditionally conceived histories, while at the same time helping to re-theorize the concept of blackness itself. The historiography of Latin America has not been left unaffected by the trends.6 Latin American historiography, however, has been traditionally preoccupied with questions seemingly distant from the core topics of African Diaspora study. A quick glance at Latin America's historiographical canon, especially as written by North American scholars, reveals inquires into issues such as the long-term ramifications of the Conquest, understanding the vicissitudes of the colonial economy, the impact of the Bourbon reforms, the causes of independence, the political and social shocks involved in the creation of nation-states, the impact of populism, the roots of economic dependency, etc. Rich and abundant regional histories have provided focus to these macro-historical questions. Important advances in social history, [End Page 2] gender studies, and, more recently, cultural studies have helped us personalize these histories to the point that we are now entering into the private lives and mentalities of families, while unmasking the deep historical processes behind the discursive structures of power in the public sphere. When race and/or ethnicity have entered these analyses, the indigenous population, which has arguably had a more prominent long-term demographic impact on the region, has frequently enjoyed priority, especially with respect to research on the Spanish-speaking mainland.7 Apart from places like Venezuela, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic, even the influence of blackness on one of the primary racial discourses in Latin America, mestizaje, has been minimal in comparison to the impact of whites, Indians, and mestizos.8 In short, when looking at the broad trajectory of historical writings on Latin America, outside of the Caribbean and Brazil, it has long been possible to do Latin American history without referencing blackness or the African Diaspora. This should come as no surprise, for although this condensed overview of the field leaves major gaps, we can all recognize that there are many seminal texts that mention blacks only in passing. This is not to say that these works lack merit; rather, the tradition of the field has simply prioritized other questions ahead of reconciling the region's African heritage.9 I raise these issues because it seems worth pondering here that with [End Page 3] all of the attention that African Diaspora studies are currently receiving, even to the point of characterizing some work on Latin America as being "diasporic" in nature, what exactly is the relationship between the African Diaspora paradigm and Latin American historiography?10 How do they impact one another and what should be their future course? Lastly, what does this special issue of The Americas offer in that respect? A good starting point for delving into these questions involves clarifying what is currently meant by the term "African Diaspora" in the existing literature. This is easier said than done, given the flurry of work spanning multiple disciplines on the topic. Moreover, at...