More Than Words: Contemporary Afro-Brazilian Fiction and Culture

This lecture/seminar course delves into Brazil's Black legacy through contemporary creative productions. We will focus on how the dimensions of race, class, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality are portrayed in Brazilian literature and cultural expression forms. Through the lens of Brazilian Black feminism, we will examine how race relations have influenced Brazil's national identity. The curriculum integrates theoretical and critical readings from Black Brazilian female intellectuals, intersecting with various mediums such as fiction, graphic novels, films, music, and visual arts. These mediums serve as powerful tools to confront Brazil's history of slavery, challenge the notion of racial democracy, and foster positive transformations in Afro-Brazilian representation.