Where Is Africa in Brazil? the Recent Senegalese Migration to the South and How the Brazilian Press Presents It
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Université Babes- Bolyai, (Cluj Napoca, Roumanie) IPDSR, Université Cheikh Anta Diop (Dakar, Sénégal) Université Charles De Gaulle - Lille 3, (Lille, France) Where is Africa in Brazil? The recent Senegalese migration to the South and how the Brazilian press presents it MASTER 2 : ERASMUS MUNDUS MITRA MEDIATION INTERCULTURELLE : IDENTITES, MOBILITES ET CONFLITS By Larissa Gonçalves Rangel June 2015 Declaration The author hereby declares that, except where duly acknowledged, this thesis is entirely her own work and has not been submitted for any degree in University Charles De Gaulle – Lille 3, University Babes - Bolyai, University Cheikh Anta Diop or in any other University in France, Romania or Senegal. Signature 2 Table of Contents Table of Figures ................................................................................................................p.04 Table of Tables...................................................................................................................p.04 Acknowledgments..............................................................................................................p.05 Abstract .............................................................................................................................p.06 Introduction........................................................................................................................p.07 Chapter 1 Theoretical background: Around the concepts of nationalism, Cultural Identity and Framework Analysis..........................................................................................................p.17 1.1 What is nationalism? .......................................................................................p.17 1.2 Cultural Identity: from definitions to actions...................................................p.28 Chapter 2 Cultural Identities and Migrations in Brazil.....................................................p.41 2.1 The different flows of migration towards Brazil.............................................p.43 2.2 Citizenship and slavery or: the history of universal citizenship in Brazil..................................................................................................................................p.47 2.2 The Senegalese migration to Brazil..................................................................p.52 Chapter 3 The Senegalese Migration and the Brazilian society.........................................p.60 3.1 What is new? The reality and specificities behind the Senegalese migration to Brazil.................................................................................................................................p.62 3.2 Identification: who is the other? .....................................................................p.70 Chapter 4 The impact of discourse on the migrants’ integration......................................p.76 4.1 Nationalist discourses: who are we? ...............................................................p.76 4.2 Changing perspectives: the responsibility of the media..................................p.82 Conclusion.........................................................................................................................p.95 Bibliography ....................................................................................................................p.99 Annex................................................................................................................................p.104 3 Table of Figures Figure 2.1 Number of slaves arriving in Brazil………………………………………….p.48 Figure 2.2 Salaries 2013 …………………………………………………………...…... p.50 Figure2.3 Unemployment 2013…………………………………………………………. p.50 Figure 2.4 Destination counties and regions for Senegalese migrants………………….. p.54 Figure 4.1 Source of Racism……………………………………………………………. p.75 Table of Tables Table 3.1 Profile of Migrants…………………………………………………………….p.63 Table 3.2 Tendencies of Migrants………………………………………………………. p.63 Table 3.3 Profession of Migrants.………………………………………………………. p.64 Table 3.4 Visa and Itinerary of the Migrants…………………………………………… p.65 Table 3.5 Host Institutions Evaluation of Difficulties………………………………….. p.73 Table 4.1: Civic Population profile and evaluation of public politics…………………... p.79 Table 4.2 O Globo’s coverage of the Senegalese migration……………………………. p.87 Table 4.3 Folha de S. Paulo’s coverage of the Senegalese migration………………….p.87 Table 4.4 Zero Hora’s coverage of the Senegalese migration…………………………...p.89 4 Acknowledgements This thesis starts with a doubt and ends up with many others. But one certainty: it would not be possible without the contribution of a large number of people. Firstly, thanks to my supervisors Patrice Canivez, Pape Sakho and, despite no formal connection or previously experience, Liv Sovik. Their expertise on their respective fields of study was fundamental as a guide since the first pages. Secondly, my fieldwork would not be possible without the contribution from João Carlos Tedesco, teacher in the University of Passo Fundo and the migrant Cher. In Senegal, my internship tutor Badara Ndyae was also very attentive to my work. Finally, I could not forget to recognize the support of my MITRA friends, whose companionship in the library and advices were fundamental for the result and the continuation of this paper. 5 Abstract The Senegalese flow of migration started to be a reality in Brazil after the year of 2010, due to economic and geopolitical reasons. Nevertheless, the African heritage in the Brazilian national and cultural identity was also an important motivation, on the imagery of the migrants. But once in the country, the reality was quite different from what they have imagined. This thesis aims to analyse social relations and the persistence of a silent racism among the population, having as background the general context of this migration. Through interviews with migrants, their families, Host Institutions and Official Authorities, we seek to observe the local and official discourses. At the same time, we cross these interviews with the analysis of some online newspapers, in a national and local level, with the aim of studying the perception of the migration in relation with the concept of a Brazilian cultural identity. Keywords: Senegalese, Brazil, migration, media, nationalism, cultural identity Résumé Le flux migratoire sénégalais déviant une réalité au Brésil après l'année 2010, pour des raisons économiques et géopolitiques. Néanmoins, l'héritage africain dans l'identité nationale et culturelle brésilienne était aussi une motivation importante, dans l'imaginaire des migrants. Mais une fois dans le pays, la réalité était bien différente de ce qu'ils avaient imaginé. Ce mémoire vise à analyser les relations sociales et la persistance d'un racisme silencieux parmi la population, ayant comme fond le contexte général de cette migration. Par des entretiens avec des migrants, leurs familles, institutions d'accueil et les autorités officielles, nous cherchons à observer les discours locaux et officiels. Dans le même temps, nous croisons ces entretiens avec l'analyse de certains journaux en ligne, à niveaux national et local, dans le but d'étudier la perception de la migration en relation avec le concept d'une identité culturelle brésilienne. Mots clés : Sénégalais, Brésil, migration, médias, nationalisme, identité culturelle 6 A beleza de um povo, favela não sucumbi Meu lado África, aflorar, me redimir O anjo do mal alicia o menininho Toda noite alguém morre Preto ou pobre por aqui The beauty of the people, to the favela I did not succumb My Africa side, as it blooms, redeems me The evil angel entices the little boy Every night someone dies Black or poor, around here (Criolo, 2015)1 Introduction One might say that there is no specific correlation between Brazil and Senegal, apart from the general African influence during the slavery years in the first country or the concurrent Portuguese presence in the second one with the purpose of using the country as a base for the purchase of slaves before leading them to the colonies in America2. Nevertheless, migration is a reality that is part of both Brazilian and Senegalese histories. Up until the last decade, we could only speak of particular contexts for each of these countries in a separate perspective. This thesis aims to show how these two countries became directly connected due to a flow in migration starting in 2010 and increasing in 2012 – nowadays the official numbers count around 8703 Senegalese migrants registered at the Brazilian Migration Department. This number might be considered almost insignificant, if compared with other migratory waves such as the Haitians (around 40.000 from 2010 to 2014) or, more recently, of people from Bangladesh (only in 2013, more then 2.000). But the aim of this research is to discuss why the Senegalese migrants have chosen such a distant country, geographically and culturally 1 Part of the song Convoque seu Buda, from the album of the same name, launched in 2015. [my translation] 2 Gorée Island is one example of how the country was used with this intent, from the mid 15th-century to the 172 Gorée Island is one example of how the country was used withth century, by slavers from Portugal as well as other European countries such as the Netherlands this intent, from the mid 15th-century to and the Great Britain.the 17th century, by slavers fr om Portugal as well as other European countries such as the Netherlands and the Great Britain.3 This number was