초청강연

This lecture offers an introduction to the study of Afro-Brazilian communities, a distinct and complex group that has shaped Brazilian culture and History since the 1600s. In Sao Paolo and Salvador, the two largest cities of the country, forced African immigrants and their descendants have formed various identities in different contexts: life in bondage, abolition, and post-abolition. This lecture will focus on the third phase of Afro-Brazilian history, which goes from 1888 to today. Dr Ohmer will guide the audience in her answers to three questions:

1. What are some examples of identify formation and Afro-Brazilian culture in the 19th and 20th centuries, and how does focusing on those examples exemplify "protagonism"?
2. What do we gain from a comparative study between Sao Paolo and Salvador: is it worth researching if one city is "more efficient" in political activism for the rights of Afro-Brazilian citizens than another?
3. A third inquiry applies to contexts in other nations and other parts of the world: Based on the examples presented today: Should ethnic culture stick to cultural production, without being political? Is it worth being ethnically political--and to fight specifically for one group's human rights? Or, is it best to cultivate nationalist pride and assimilate?

Throughout, the lecture will discuss the complexities of claiming ethnicity and nationality when a nation represses Black identity. What does "Afro-Brazilian" mean, and how was this identity claimed -- or is it possible to claim Blackness AND Brazilian nationality?