Afro-Brazilian Identity Research Articles

VALUATION OF ETHNIC-CULTURAL IDENTITY: COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF EXPERIENCE REPORTS ON VISITS TO QUILOMBOS IN THE STATE OF PARÁ AND RIO DE JANEIRO

The article "Valorization of Ethnic-Cultural Identity: comparative analysis of experience reports during visits to quilombos in the states of Pará and Rio de Janeiro" analyzes visits to quilombola communities, comparing the realities of two states. In Pará, the quilombola communities of Perpétuo Socorro do Tauerá, São Raimundo do Taperú and Maripí face a lack of cultural appreciation, especially among the younger generations, who tend to reject or be unaware of their Afro-descendant heritage. On the other hand, the quilombo of São José da Serra, in Rio de Janeiro, shows a strong connection with Afro-Brazilian culture and identity, valuing traditions and memory. The research addresses the importance of educational actions in the quilombola communities of Pará to rescue and strengthen ethnic-cultural identity, proposing measures such as teacher training and the inclusion of practical activities based on Afro-Brazilian history and culture, following the National Curricular Guidelines. The technical visits carried out by pedagogy students allowed a detailed analysis of the cultural dynamics and challenges faced, highlighting the need for integration between school and community to rescue these traditions. It is suggested that strengthening relationships between younger and older generations, through discussion groups and cultural practices, could help reverse the process of denying Afro-Brazilian identity. The valorization of emotional intelligence in interpersonal relationships within the school is also highlighted as fundamental to the success of these initiatives, promoting a positive and respectful organizational climate.

Estação Primeira de Mangueira: from the Block of Herrings to the Samba School

Objective: The objective of this study is to investigate the evolution of Estação Primeira de Mangueira, from Bloco dos Arengueiros to its consolidation as a samba school, with the aim of understanding the transformations and cultural impact of this institution on the Brazilian carnival scene. Theoretical Framework: In this topic, the main concepts and theories that underpin the research are presented. The theory of popular culture, the sociology of samba and studies on the history of samba schools in Brazil stand out, providing a solid basis for understanding the context of the investigation. Method: The methodology adopted for this research comprises a bibliographic study. The approach included the analysis of secondary sources such as books, academic articles, historical documents and audiovisual records. Data collection was carried out through literary and documentary review, seeking detailed information about the trajectory of Mangueira and its cultural impact. Results and Discussion: The results obtained revealed that Mangueira has undergone significant organizational and artistic changes over the years, remaining faithful to its roots and playing a crucial role in the preservation and promotion of samba and Afro-Brazilian culture. In the discussion section, these results are contextualized in light of the theoretical framework, highlighting the cultural and social implications of the evolution of the samba school. Possible discrepancies and limitations of the study are also considered in this section. Research Implications: The practical and theoretical implications of this research are discussed, providing insights into how the results can be applied or influence practices in the field of popular culture and samba. These implications may include cultural preservation, the appreciation of intangible heritage and the promotion of Afro-Brazilian identity. Originality/Value: This study contributes to the literature by offering a detailed and contextualized analysis of the transformation of Mangueira, from its origins to its current status as one of the most influential samba schools. The relevance and value of this research are evidenced by its ability to highlight the historical and cultural importance of Mangueira, as well as its role in promoting samba and Brazilian cultural identity.

Historical paths of black ethnic-racial identity in Brazil

The article deals with the historical paths of black ethnic-racial identity in Brazil. The text discusses the historical trajectory of the socio-racial relations of the black population in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries from the perspective of building a black identity. In the 19th century, the Afro-Brazilian population encountered obstacles in building its own identity. In the 20th century, there was a more accentuated struggle for the construction of a black identity. In that century, identities called Sociological Subject (HALL, 2006), Resistance and Project (CASTELLS, 1999) were configured. In the 21st century there are advances in the construction of this identity due to the previous historical struggles of the black generations. The study points out the Resistance and Project identity models. The investigation consists of a descriptive-analytical study on the types of identities that coexisted and coexist in the process of Afro-Brazilian identity construction - from the 19th to the 21st century in the perspectives of Hall (2006; 2011) and Castells (1999; 2002), Elias (1994; 2001) and Goffman (1999; 2004). The study concludes that in each historical moment the Afro-Brazilian population built a singularity of identity in the light of delimited theorists.

Review: Selling Black Brazil: Race, Nation, and Visual Culture in Salvador, Bahia, by Anadelia A. Romo, and Modernity in Black and White: Art and Image, Race and Identity in Brazil, 1890–1945, by Rafael Cardoso

Review: <i>Selling Black Brazil: Race, Nation, and Visual Culture in Salvador, Bahia</i>, by Anadelia A. Romo, and <i>Modernity in Black and White: Art and Image, Race and Identity in Brazil, 1890–1945</i>, by Rafael Cardoso

Influências dos tecidos e das estamparias africanas na identidade e na cultura afro-brasileiras

Este artigo se propõe a apresentar os tecidos e as estamparias africanas como veículos de identidades híbridas, que constroem uma trama de saberes ao longo de suas articulações econômicas, culturais e sociais. Por meio de pesquisas bibliográficas e entrevistas, pretendemos compreender o papel social dos tecidos Wax, Adinkra e Ofi/Pano da Costa como patrimônios culturais que preservam e transmitem aspectos da história e da filosofia, além de valores e normas socioculturais, dos povos da África. Esses tecidos ganham importância ao se apresentarem como telas de representação do jogo de identidades africanas e renovações identitárias afro-brasileiras. Para o fortalecimento da memória e conscientização das contribuições africanas no Brasil, propomos o estudo dos tecidos africanos, de suas narrativas em estamparias e dos seus usos cotidianos como ferramentas de autoinscrição e de difusão do legado de resistência dos povos africanos em diáspora pelo mundo.

Por uma educação física antirracista

O presente artigo discute a contribuição dos docentes negros de educação física no exercício da pedagogia da diversidade. Metodologicamente, optou-se pelo estudo teórico, análise de conteúdo e entrevistas semiestruturadas. A pesquisa apontou que os docentes negros ressignificaram a função social da educação física escolar por meio dos relatos de experiência que legitimam a relevância da diversidade étnico-racial no currículo desse componente, sendo este um caminho viável e potente no combate ao racismo e às desigualdades. Os resultados apontaram os saberes necessários para a construção da educação física antirracista; o reconhecimento das coordenadoras pedagógicas, que perceberam a contribuição das aulas de educação física na construção da identidade afro-brasileira dos discentes e o processo de apropriação das questões étnico-raciais na área em defesa da educação em e para os direitos humanos negros.

PERCURSOS HISTÓRICOS DAS RECONFIGURAÇÕES MUSEAIS AO ENCONTRO DE UMA EDUCAÇÃO DECOLONIAL

O presente artigo se propõe a acompanhar parte das quebras de paradigmas e percepções sociais desde os primeiros museus, e seu conceito eurocêntrico e colecionista, distante da pluralidade atual, até as discussões sobre a relevância enquanto espaço público representativo da cultura afro-brasileira tendo o papel decolonial enquanto espaço não-formal de aprendizagem, aparelhos culturais esses, por vezes, perdidos no anacronismo conservador de um formato que não dialoga com os sujeitos que se propõe a refletir. A investigação utiliza da revisão narrativa de literatura como aporte metodológico, embasada em autores da área da história da museologia, da identidade cultural afro-brasileira e da educação patrimonial. Diante disso, o resultado obtido no estudo possibilitou desenhar reflexões para uma reconfiguração dos espaços museais que permitam, quando concebido criticamente, ter na sua potencialidade transformadora a oportunidade de reparar apagamentos históricos por meio de ações para visibilidade de uma diversidade cultural que realmente represente a sociedade do seu tempo.

Uma imagem de denúncia, uma arte de reivindicação: Algumas interrogações em torno de Ama de Leite (2005), de Rosana Paulino

A arte de reivindicação de Rosana Paulino é um lugar privilegiado para colocar à prova recentes discussões sobre as relações entre arte e política e o papel desempenhado ali pelo pensamento de Jacques Rancière. Neste texto são expostas algumas interrogações em torno da eficácia estética e política de uma obra que tenta reconfigurar o discurso sobre a identidade e a história afro-brasileiras e combater as interdições correntes do Outro.

Gender Fluidity and Yoruba Religion in the Construction of an Afro-Brazilian Identity: Karim Aïnouz's Madame Satã

Amid intense racial tensions in 1930’s Brazil, João Francisco dos Santos, rises to prominence as one of Rio’s most famous malandros. Simultaneously feared and persecuted by Brazilian authorities for his violent reactionary outbursts on the one hand, and his sensual incarnation of the afro-Brazilian mulatta on the other hand, this article analyzes Karim Aïnouz’s biopic Madame Satã, and examines the role that João’s religious beliefs plays on the conceptualization of his identity. This article contends that the concept of gender fluidity rooted in Afro- diasporic Yoruba religion provides a normative framework through which João contests the rigid ideations of gender and performance imposed on the black community by a patriarchal white society.

Constructions of race in Brazil: resistance and resignification in teacher education

This paper reflects on racial identification in Brazil, considering how concepts of race travel internationally and are transformed locally. In light of the silencing of issues of race in Brazilian public education, we analyse the experiences of student teachers of colour participating in a professional development project coordinated by the authors. We report findings of a qualitative study arising from the project, based on reflective journals and interviews, and focusing on processes of racial resignification and resistance. The narratives produced by participants are situated in relation to dominant discourses of racial democracy and mixing, which deny the possibility of a politicised Afro-Brazilian identity. We show how hybrid identifications, drawing on cultural resources and networks that involve transnational circulation, are part of the construction of new social identities in the context of teacher education.

NARRATIVES, CHARACTERS, PERFORMANCES: THE BAIANA AS THE FACE OF CANDOMBLÉ

Abstract This article describes how the Baiana, a regional folk-type in Brazilian culture could be shaped with the contribution of the literature, music, religion and scholarly works, its role in the shaping of Brazilian-ness and Afro-Brazilian identity, with some possible effects in the lives of the real people refered under this label.

(Re)significação e (re)invenção cultural quilombola: as espacialidades afro-brasileiras do Conjunto da Marujada e do Grupo Curiango no Vale do Jequitinhonha/MG

O ano de 1988 representou um importante marco histórico para as comunidades afro-brasileiras, quando, pela primeira vez, lhes foram reconhecidos os direitos constitucionais às suas terras e à valorização de suas práticas culturais. Desde então, diversas comunidades se reorganizaram internamente e se articularam externamente a fim de resgatar e revitalizar as celebrações, festividades e tradições herdadas de seus antepassados. Neste contexto, o presente trabalho busca refletir sobre os processos de (re)significação e (re)invenção cultural nas comunidades quilombolas de Moça Santa, município de Chapada do Norte, e Quilombo, município de Minas Novas, Vale do Jequitinhonha/MG. O resgate e a valorização de danças, cantos e celebrações consideradas localmente como “tradicionais”, a exemplo do Grupo Curiango em Moça Santa, e do Conjunto da Marujada, em Quilombo, ganharam maior ímpeto a partir do reconhecimento destes territórios como remanescentes de quilombos, mobilizando jovens e adultos para a prática e divulgação de suas expressões culturais. Por meio de observações empíricas e de relatos obtidos em campo, percebe-se que os grupos Curiango e Marujada são importantes referências simbólico-culturais destes territórios, contribuindo para integração e coesão comunitária, para a afirmação de sua identidade afro-brasileira, e, em especial, para a legitimação de seu auto-reconhecimento como remanescentes de quilombos.&#x0D; &#x0D; Abstract &#x0D; &#x0D; CULTURAL QUILOMBOLA (RE)SIGNIFICATION AND (RE)INVENTION: THE AFRO-BRAZILIAN SPATIALITIES OF MARUJADA AND CURIANGO’S GROUP IN VALE DO JEQUITINHONHA-MINAS GERAIS-BRASIL&#x0D; &#x0D; The year 1988 was an important landmark for afro-brazilian communities, when, for the first time, their constitutional rights were accorded to their land and exploitation of their cultural practices. Since then, several communities were internally reorganized and externally articulated in order to rescue and revitalize the celebrations, festivities and traditions inherited from their ancestors. In this context, this paper seeks to reflect about the processes of cultural (re)signification and (re)invention in the maroon communities of Moça Santa, municipality of Chapada do Norte and Quilombo, municipality of Minas Novas, in Vale do Jequitinhonha/MG. The rescue and recovery of dances, songs and celebrations locally regarded as “traditional”, like the Curiango’s group in Moça Santa, and the Marujada’s group in Quilombo, gained acceptance from the recognition of these territories as Quilombo, mobilizing youth and adults to practice and dissemination their cultural expressions. Through empirical observations and reports from the field, you realize that the Curiango and Marujada groups are important symbolic and cultural references of these territories, contributing to integration and community cohesion, for affirmation of his afro-brazilian identity, and especially, for legitimation of his self - recognition as Quilombo .

‘On my mind's world map, I see an Africa’: Bando de Teatro Olodum's re-routing of Afro-Brazilian identity

A group of black children in the city of Salvador da Bahia, intrigued by their teacher's explanation that black Brazilians are descendants of Africans, embark on a quest to search for Africa. This is the central plot of Áfricas – Bando de Teatro Olodum's theatre production for young people that premiered in 2007 (Teatro Vila Velha, Salvador da Bahia). In this critical reflection I focus on the productive intersections between diaspora and race, and consider the ways in which Áfricas claims a diaspora sensibility for Afro-Brazilians by enacting, both for the performers and for the audience, an awareness of themselves as an ethnic group with transnational roots. Drawing on understandings of diaspora as a contingent process rather than a way to reify certain communities, I argue that Áfricas' staging of the connections between Brazil and Africa opens up a space in which young audiences can engage in what Chantal Mouffe calls ‘agonistic pluralism’ (2007), a debate in which passions and affects critically inform ‘the creation of collective political identities’. I assert that the show's exploration of new formulations of Afro-Brazilian identity serves a therapeutic function for the black community in Salvador, who are often excluded in a country where the whiter one looks ensures greater access to social and economic privileges.

Why Do I Feel I Don’t Belong to the Brazil on TV?

Telenovelas have been considered the predominant popular genre on television, the most widely available and popular national medium, in Brazil, for more than 30 years (Straubhaar, 1982). However, we argue in this article that although telenovelas do indeed have this remarkable penetration and popularity in Brazil, their reception is mediated by audience class, geographical location, race, and issues with media content. Many in the audience feel disenfranchised from the dominant telenovela representations, particularly on the primary network, TV Globo, because of their rural, Northeastern status and identity, or their Afro-Brazilian identity. They question their sense of belonging, not because they do not feel Brazilian, but because the “Brazil” they see on TV does not include them.

Narratividad y tradición política. Una aproximación sobre la formación política de los jóvenes de la asociación Túpac Amaru

En este artículo se presenta una reflexión en torno a las prácticas sociales y educativas de la Asociación de Jóvenes Tupac Amaru (AJTA). De sus narrativas, tradiciones y espiritualidad como acción colectiva y específica de su quehacer político. Por ser ésta una primera propuesta que intenta aproximarse a una experiencia de sistematización participativa, se pretende fortalecer el camino que permita la visualización de las propuestas organizativas del colectivo, principalmente orientadas al reconocimiento de las tradiciones políticas gauchescas del Estado del Rio Grande del Sur (Brasil). Dicha práctica pedagógica permitió la elaboración de una cartilla, la reconstrucción de la historia de la asociación, la definición de los campos de trabajo, la formación política de jóvenes, el reconocimiento identitario afrobrasilero e indígena y el cultivo en huertas comunitarias.

Afro-Latin Carnival and the Carnivalesque in the African American Novel

This article examines the overlap of conceptions of blackness and the carnivalesque in a pan-American context, from the popular praxis of Brazil, where carnival stands as a performative narrative of popular identity, to prominent works in African-American literature featuring abstract notions of the carnivalesque. Seminal theories of carnival and their relation to performance theory and the revitalization of festivals in the West are briefly outlined. The second section describes a patriarchal discourse of Latin identity in Ibero-America, the prominence of Afro-Latin American performance, and their paradoxical synthesis. The third section takes up ethical and aesthetic issues in African American letters as they relate to the carnivalesque, from Du Bois’ explication of double-consciousness to the work of Ralph Ellison and Toni Morrison. This is contrasted with the role of Afro-Brazilian identity and the carnivalesque in Brazilian letters with particular attention to Jorge Amado. A critique of Caribbean carnival by Derek Walcott is presented as a middle term. The conclusion synthesizes the distinct premises of Afro-Latin and African American perspectives on carnivalesque resistance.

Afro-Brazilian Religions and Ethnic Identity Politics in the Brazilian Public Health Arena

In this article, I examine the ways in which health activists from Afro-Brazilian religions deploy ethnic identity politics within the Brazilian public health arena to gain recognition and respect for their beliefs and practices, as well as public health goods for their communities. I also discuss the creation and enactment of “culturally competent” healthcare initiatives for members of Afro-Brazilian religions. Finally, I examine the tension between universal particular identity frames that emerges within the political discourses of health activists from Afro-Brazilian religions. Throughout, I place this case study in dialogue with similar scholarship on minority health politics and cultural competence initiatives in other parts of the world.

Review: Nagô Grandma and White Papa: Candomblé and the Creation of Afro-Brazilian Identity, by Beatriz Góis Dantas and Stephen Berg

Review: <i>Nagô Grandma and White Papa: Candomblé and the Creation of Afro-Brazilian Identity</i>, by Beatriz Góis Dantas and Stephen Berg

Reconstructing the “Cradle of Brazil”: The Detachability of Morality and the Nature of Cultural Labor in Salvador, Bahia's Pelourinho World Heritage Site

AbstractThis essay examines theories of value and property in relation to conceptions of morality, correct comportment, and their influences on Afro-Bahians subject to late twentieth- and early twenty-first-century cultural heritage initiatives in the Pelourinho neighborhood of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. This urban space is the nation's most expressive site for the performance of Afro-Brazilian identity and the commemoration of tradition. In analyzing the role of morality in Pelourinho-based cultural property-making, I focus on popular critiques of heritage discourse to argue that, in conjuring a particular form of cultural heritage that bears a distinct resemblance to UNESCO's immaterial patrimony programs, the Bahian state has piggybacked on social scientific evaluations of local people's moral comportments in order to put together an archive of everyday life that exists as a standing reserve for histories of Brazil and the marketing of cultural heritage. This data produced in an effort to regulate the historical center has revolved around the state's evaluation of the moral probity and everyday habits of the Pelourinho's overwhelmingly Afro-Brazilian populace. The result is a conceptualization of cultural labor that emanates not from the capacities and struggles of producers, but from a decentered or distributed view of production, which I tie to the existence of this archive. Consumers, or visitors to the historical center, as well as historical archives thus play a critical role in this form of constructing property and understanding the sources and fungibility of labor in a global economy for multicultural difference that depends on an emphasis on futurity and market reflexivity.

“Can you take a picture of the wind?”: Candomble’s Absent Presence Framed through Regional Foodways and Brazilian Popular Music

AbstractThis essay investigates the effect of media and mediatization on the presentation of Afro-Brazilian identity and Candomble. This diffused monotheistic religion centred upon cults honouring a diverse community of divinities is dominated by ideologies of the Yoruba ethnic group, the last and largest group of enslaved Africans imported to Brazil. Attention will be drawn to the manner and form in which media circulates in the public sphere, analyzing the insertion of food, consumption, and identity themes in 20th-century Brazilian media circuits. Texts, lyrics, and moving images contribute to the imaginary of Baianidade (the state of Bahian-ness) and Afro-Brazilian identity. The confluence of race, gender, politics, and religion all fall within the lens of production and consumption of food. These themes have been utilized as an interlocutor in engaging with racial, gendered, and religious discourses. Literary analysis employing Mikhail Bakhtin’s theories on the carnivalesque will be used as a primary...