Embodied Voices: Embedding Contemporary Afro-Brazilian Women

This article was downloaded by: [187.94.203.28] On: 11 September 2012, At: 13:47 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK African and Black Diaspora: An International Journal Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rabd20 Embodied voices: embedding contemporary Afro-Brazilian women writers Aino Rinhaug a a Department of Literature, Area Studies and European Languages (ILOS), University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway Version of record first published: 20 Jun 2012. To cite this article: Aino Rinhaug (2012): Embodied voices: embedding contemporary Afro-Brazilian women writers, African and Black Diaspora: An International Journal, 5:2, 163-178 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17528631.2012.695219 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Full terms and conditions of use: http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and- conditions This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae, and drug doses should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand, or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material. African and Black Diaspora: An International Journal Vol. 5, No. 2, July 2012, 163Á178 Embodied voices: embedding contemporary Afro-Brazilian women writers Aino Rinhaug* Department of Literature, Area Studies and European Languages (ILOS), University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway The present contribution seeks to examine the works of a selected number of contemporary Afro-Brazilian women writers and activists. From the way these voices have contributed to the advancement of the Black movement in Brazil Á especially since the 1980s Á particular attention will be given to the way the body figures both a central topic as well as an agent of their work. The overall assumption is that the body (both material and metaphorical) becomes a dynamic site of aesthetic, political, and environmental negotiations, and poetry and literature function as a social practice. By looking at how a new view on bodily cognition and discourse can prove decisive for the reconfiguration of political categories (identity, subjectivity, gender, and race), the assumption is that a novel notion and poiesis of the Afro-Brazilian self can be teased out from these works. Keywords: Afro-Brazilian literature; racial democracy; body politics In 1995, when asked in an interview about her role as one of the most prestigious female Black writers and social activists in a patriarchal Brazilian society, Miriam Alves answered with a reference to a poem by Maria da Paixaõ, ‘Shouting for Saõ Paulo’: ‘It is not easy’, she says, ‘naõe´faćil’ (Rowell and Alves 1995, p. 971). However, despite the obvious difficulty, Alves continues to speak with an indomitable conviction and passion about the importance of her work and of those who speak up and make themselves heard as Afro-Brazilian women writers today. In regard to the work of these women, poetry seems to play a particularly significant role. As Alves notes, poetry has the function of mirroring reality in a number of ways, Downloaded by [187.94.203.28] at 13:47 11 September 2012 but also of negating the same: poetry, thus, ‘passa pela cor, pelo sexo, pela questaõ econoˆmica, pela condiçaõ social, pelas convicço˜es political, sexuais’ (1995, p. 971) (‘touches upon color, gender, the economical question, social condition, political and sexual convictions’).1 Moreover, in the context of Afro-Brazilian women writers and activists, this is a poetic discourse that insists on being read and heard, notwithstanding the danger of being misinterpreted by others. As Alves goes on to say, ‘o branco, quando naõ me leva a se´rio, brinca com a coisa mais se´ria que tenho, eu mesma; o companheiro negro, quando naõ me leva a se´rio, como mulher escritora, brinca com algo ainda mais se´rio: meu ser’ (1995, p. 971) (‘when a white person doesn’t take me seriously, he is joking with the most earnest thing I have: myself; when a black fellow doesn’t take me seriously as a female writer, he is joking with something even more earnest: my being’). *Email: [email protected] ISSN 1752-8631 print/ISSN 1752-864X online # 2012 Taylor & Francis http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17528631.2012.695219 http://www.tandfonline.com 164 A. Rinhaug The reference to both racism and sexism is charged with meaning in more than one way when it comes to the discourse and in particular to the literature of Afro- Brazilian women writers, both addressing issues related to race, gender roles, sexism and society at large. Their work touch upon discrimination based on race, class, and gender and while constructing alternative responses to oppression, they seek to challenge the conventional image of passivity popularly attributed to African- Brazilian women.2 Furthermore, these poets actively endeavor to create new aesthetic and political strategies for Black women in Brazil by undermining the values of the dominant culture and claiming the power of a narrative voice. By doing so, these writers and activists question authority, reinterpret political institutions, and articulate the importance of their African heritage, thus affirming Blackness as an aesthetic and political concept. Therefore, as Afolabi (2001, p. 120) writes, Alves ‘does not apologize for having to challenge the establishment and force it to hear black voices that have long been silenced and misrepresented’. Indeed, in this article, the focus will be on the writing of Alves and other contemporary Afro-Brazilian women writers that can be said to constitute a collective effort in their battle against discrimination. My focus will be on their tireless advocacy for Afro-Brazilian self- respect, pride, and confidence. I will pay particular attention to how these works by Afro-Brazilian women writers may be interpreted as a poetological, but also a social, performative practice, drawing on the role of poetry and literature as a discourse of identity and subjectivity formation. In order to prepare the ground for the analysis, an overview of some of the most significant stages of the development of the Afro- Brazilian movement is in place. On the basis that the texts by Afro-Brazilian women writers will be regarded as a site in which racism is challenged, I will contextualize their work by looking at other forms of traditional Black activism. Racial democracy vs. Black consciousness The development of a Brazilian Black activism must be viewed in light of the notion of a racial democracy and, more specifically, of the flaws of this concept and the resistance it has been met with on the part of a growing Black consciousness. As Oliveira (2008, p. 19) notes, the Afro-Brazilian activists have had to oppose not only racism, but Á absurdly enough Á an alleged non-existent racial discrimination, which derives from the concept of a racial democracy. Introduced by sociologist Gilberto Downloaded by [187.94.203.28] at 13:47 11 September 2012 Freyre, the notion of a racial democracy was launched with the publication of his book, Casa Grande e Senzala in 1933, and fervently propagated by the Vargas regime, whose populist agenda accentuated a national inclusion and integrationist policy. According to Freyre’s idea, the mixing between Whites and non-Whites Á or the miscegenation between the Portuguese colonizers and African slaves Á would contribute to a more harmonious, democratic society/social order than ever seen before. Considered politically incorrect at the time, the Black movement’s point of view was that the utopian racial democracy was just another form of a racial myth, and, as Antonio Guimaraes (Souza and Sinder 2005, p. 132) observes, after the military coup of 1964 had destroyed the populist or nationalist command economy pact, which aimed for a complete integration of Black Brazilians by declaring a mixed-race national culture, or implementing regulations to facilitate access to the labor market, the signs of a strain within the Black movement itself became more apparent. The two camps could roughly be divided into, on the one hand, followers African and Black Diaspora 165 of the views held Freyre, whilst on the other hand, there were those who maintained an emphasis on the importance of the African heritage and who, in turn, sought to reveal the mythical, even utopian aspects of Freyre’s idea. Recently, far from realistically affirming a state of unity, the notion of a paradisiacal, racial me´tisse co- existence is declared obsolete; yet the concept of a racial democracy still lives on as a foundational myth and as such, has, in the words of Emanuelle Oliveira, ‘crystallized in the Brazilian consciousness’ (Oliveira 2008, p. 24). However, as Reiter and Mitchell observe in a recent study: ‘as the myth of the racial democracy crumbles, so does the ideology of white benevolence toward blacks’ (Reiter and Mitchell 2010, p. 224). Could it be, then, that an increase of Black activism would force hitherto privileged groups of the population to re-examine their values and attitudes towards their country’s history and, by extension, their own sense of identity? For our present concern, the work of Afro-Brazilian women writers could seem to represent one way in which the mythical status of a racial democracy would be challenged, paving the way for the affirmation of an African heritage.

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