DECOLONIAL NARRATIVES

THE BLACK WOMAN IN THE WORK OF BEATRIZ NASCIMENTO, A COMMUNICATIONAL STUDY

Abstract

This article seeks to critically and reflectively analyze the approach to the feminine in the work of Brazilian historian Beatriz Nascimento. The author is one of the references in studies on the African diaspora and the formation of Brazilian quilombos. The latter is considered her most in-depth research object. The book “Beatriz Nascimento: Intellectual and Quilombola. Possibility in the days of destruction” is used as an empirical object. It was released in São Paulo in 2018 by the publisher Filhos de África. The work is a compilation of essays, poems, articles and texts by Nascimento. From the reading of this book, in dialogue with authors of decolonial theory, an analytical look was constituted to reflect on the space destined to women in the author's work. Therefore, what directs the study is an analysis of the discourse on the feminine and raciality in three of Nascimento's productions, written in different temporalities and that are present in the book. The purpose of this article, in addition to contributing to the propagation of Nascimento's work, still little discussed considering its importance, is to resume the pertinent discussion on decoloniality in historical studies, but above all, to reflect on the space that is destined for black women in the so-called Post-Emancipation, focusing on the time when Nascimento wrote: the final decades of the 20th century. Reading the work seems to indicate that there is still a way to go in the investigation of anti-racist writings. The analysis that follows also strongly indicates that the issues raised in the past remain inherently timeless in Brazilian society.