Emanuelle K. F. Oliveira-Monte BARACK OBAMA IS BRAZILIAN (Re)Signifying Race Relations in Contemporary Brazil Barack Obama is Brazilian Emanuelle K. F. Oliveira-Monte Barack Obama is Brazilian (Re)Signifying Race Relations in Contemporary Brazil Emanuelle K. F. Oliveira-Monte Department of Spanish and Portuguese Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN, USA ISBN 978-1-137-59480-8 ISBN 978-1-137-58353-6 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58353-6 Library of Congress Control Number: 2017950708 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018 This work is subject to copyright. 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To Christopher Joseph Monte “I’ll follow thee and make a heaven of hell, To die upon the hand I love so well” To Gabriel Samuel Monte and Isabella Catherine Monte (in memoriam) ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The idea for this project started in November 2013, when my friend Renata Wasserman invited me to be the external member of a doctoral dissertation committee of one of her students, Theresa Lindsey, at Wayne State University. I was to participate in the qualifying exam and deliver a lecture on any topic of my research. At that time, I was working on a manuscript about representations of race, crime, and violence in con- temporary Brazilian literature and flm. I had several parts of the study already written, but was having diffculties organizing them coherently. Moreover, the extremely dark nature of the project started to take a toll on me. Consequently, I wanted to lecture on another topic and, after some research, I got interested in the representations of Barack Obama in Brazil. Undoubtedly, as this book underlines, Obama’s election to the U.S. presidency had a tremendous impact on the collective unconscious of the African Diaspora; hence, I became intrigued by what Obama’s vic- tory meant to Brazil, a country famous for its racial democracy myth and where the majority of the population is of African ancestry. This manu- script started from that essay read at Wayne State University, and I thank Renata Wasserman for the opportunity to visit her department and to deliver a talk on a promising, but still very immature, topic. My gratitude also extends to my friends Carolina Castellaños, associate professor of Spanish and Portuguese at Dickinson College, and Robert Kelz, assistant professor of German at the University of Memphis, for having invited me to present my work at their institutions in late 2015. Comments during vii viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS the Q & A sessions provided me with valuable material during the manu- script editing process. When I was halfway through the book, the Charlie Hebdo attack happened on January 14, 2015. This violence was a reminder of how relevant the work of cartoonists is; they are the consciousness of their nations, making us laugh and critically refect upon current national and international problems. This book is dedicated to all the cartoonists and artists who, through their work, place key topics at the forefront of soci- ety’s debate with talent and wit. I especially would like to thank all the Brazilian artists and cartoonists who contributed to this manuscript: Renato Luiz Campos Aroeira, Roberlan Borges, Hélio de la Peña, Lute, Samuca, Pedro Marques, Fellipe Elias da Silva, Pelicano, Marcos Borges, Carlos Latuff, Cerino, Regi, Boopo, Iotti, and Sattu Rodrigues. Your amazing work informed my scholarship and made me laugh! It was a joy and a pleasure to get to know you! A special thank you goes to Diogo Ramalho, maker of the blog Humor Político, where many Brazilian car- toonists post their creations. I found many of the cartoons used in this study on this funny and fascinating site. I have built my academic career on the captivating topics of Afro- Brazilian literature and race relations. Looking back, I realize that I owe much of my professional path to my adviser in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of California, Los Angeles, Randal Johnson. I was a very young and academically unpolished gradu- ate student, and Johnson not only provided me with invaluable mentor- ing, but also helped to shape my line of work. During graduate school, I wanted to write my doctoral dissertation on the literature of the new social movements in Brazil; prudently and wisely, Johnson suggested I limit my focus and concentrate my interests on the Afro-Brazilian move- ment and the question of race. I thank Randal Johnson for giving me these fascinating and important topics of a lifetime! Very few people worldwide study Afro-Latin American literature or, most specifcally, Afro-Brazilian literature and culture. I am very grateful to be part of this tight-knit and supportive group. I am forever indebted to Marvin Lewis and Russell Hamilton (in memoriam), true pioneers and two of the greatest scholars of the feld of Afro-Diaspora literature, whom I had the pleasure to work with early in my career. Their infuence on my work is undisputable. Christopher Dunn from Tulane University has always been a dear friend and empathetic colleague. When he came to give a lecture in 2015 at Vanderbilt University on his wonderful new Acknowledgements ix book Contracultura: Alternative Arts and Social Transformation in Authoritarian Brazil (2016), I described my manuscript during a dinner conversation, and Dunn enthusiastically encouraged me to conclude this project. Isis da Costa and Lúcia Costigan, from Ohio State University, have always been a constant presence, sharing work-related projects and life experiences. Antonio Tillis, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Houston; Ana Beatriz Gonçalves from the Federal University of Juiz de Fora; Cristina Rodriguez from North Carolina Central University; and Eliza Rizo from Iowa State University are all part of a wonderful community of Afro-Latin American scholars coming from the University of Missouri, Columbia, where I was fortunate enough to hold my frst academic position. Thank you all for being there, despite the long distance and busy schedules! Moreover, I am also very privileged to be part of such a wonderful group as the Luso-Brazilian studies community in the United States. Since my graduate school years, David William Foster has always been an amazing mentor and friend; thank you, David, for your wisdom, gener- osity, and friendship! I had the pleasure of working with Luiz Fernando Valente of Brown University on several committees of various profes- sional associations, and he has always impressed me with his professional- ism and kindness. Jeremy Lehnen from the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, has been a constant intellectual presence in my life, shar- ing academic interests and lesson plans. No woman is an island, thus my work would have not been possible without the support of amazing women scholars from different generations. Peggy Sharpe (Florida State University), Cristina Pinto-Bailey (Washington and Lee University), Susan Quinlan (University of Georgia) and Phyllis Peres (American University)—since the beginning of my career, I have been inspired by your strong work ethic and loving hearts! Similar research interests have solidifed old bonds and helped to form new ones; Rebecca Atencio (Tulane University) and Regina Dalcastagné (University of Brasília) have been very important infuences on my work and have graced my life with their friendship. Leila Lehnen (University of New Mexico, Albuquerque)—no words can ever express how grateful I am for your constant presence in my life, on a personal and professional level! I am positive that I could not be standing where I am now without the emo- tional and academic support of these amazing women! My colleagues in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese have provided me with sure guidance when needed. I would like to thank the x ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Chair, Benigno Trigo, and the Vice Chair, Victoria Burrus, as well as Earl Fitz, Cathy Jrade, Edward Friedman, and Ruth Hill for their con- tinuous advice. Andres and Marivi Zamora and Christina Karageorgou- Bastea have been caring friends in times of need. I thank Victoria Gardner and Alicia Lorenzo for our unforgettable coffee hours, where we laughed and chatted about the tribulations and joys of the profession. I could not have asked for a more gifted, thoughtful, and appreciative core of graduate students. Kelly Samiotou, Charles Geyer, Jacob Brown, and Fernando Varella—I thank you all for being part of our academic family! Outside my department, I found colleagues who have always provided me with inestimable help.