Saber, poder e resistência: Beleza negra e a construção identitária de negras(os) racializadas(os)

Abstract

PEREIRA, Gilmar Ribeiro. Knowledge, power, and resistance: Black Beauty and the construction of black identity of racialized Black people. 2024. 184 f. Thesis (Ph.D. in Letters) – Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul, Três Lagoas/MS.

ABSTRACT

This research is justified by the production of discourses around beauty, with an emphasis on the “Black Beauty” contest at the Federal Institute of Mato Grosso do Sul (IFMS), Três Lagoas campus, which promotes interventions through affirmative action and the promotion of human equality, discussing identity minorities and their ethnic-racial exclusions. In this regard, it takes as its basis Law n.º 10.639/2003, in accordance with the National Curriculum Guidelines for the Education of Ethnic-Racial Relations, and Resolution n.º 003/2004, which adresses the teaching of Afro-Brazilian and African History and Culture – subsequently amended by Law n.º 11.645/2008, which includes the history of indigenous peoples. We start from the assumption that black subjects are marked by structural/institutional racism and the discursive hegemony of whitening (branqueamento). Thus, we hypothesize that the Black Beauty contest can aesthetically enhance the deconstruction of body regulation forms, which are thematized and folklorized, with the aim of questioning the negativity device historically constructed by whitening in the researched setting. The research questions are: a) How does the concept of "Black Beauty" dialogue with Law n.º 10.639/2003 and the official documents of the IFMS regarding affirmative actions and ethnic-racial relations? b) In what way do Black students recognize themselves as the majority in terms of population, and under what conditions do they identify as minoritized in their ethnic-racial rights? c) How is the relationship established between language and Black Beauty in the constitution of the said/unsaid, within/of differences, identity, culture, and ethnic-racial relations? The general objective is to problematize how the "Black Beauty" contest, held during Black Awareness Week, takes place, and how the students and the teacher feel when participating in this contest as a pedagogical action. The specific objectives are: 1) To trace whether the institutional "said" affirmative actions tension an anti-racist discourse in the school environment; 2) To ascertain whether Black Beauty enables aesthetic-corporeal knowledges that resignify Afro-Brazilian and African culture; 3) To discuss the ways in which Black Beauty provides manifestations of empowerment in the deconstruction of the regulated Black body; and, 4) To analyze and interpret gestures, marks, and interdiscourses, as well as imaginaries originating from the extension activity of the "Black Beauty" contest. To this end, the study is anchored in the theoretical-methodological framework of Foucault’s archaeogenealogical works (2014), in dialogue with Discourse Analysis, mobilizing the notions of discourse, discursive formation, knowledge/power (saber/poder), and resistance, intertwined with the deconstructive transdisciplinary perspective of Coracini (1991). We also integrate the decolonial approach, drawing upon Quijano (2005), Castro-Gómez (2007), and Mignolo (2017), as well as Black epistemologies, with emphasis on Fanon (2005), Gomes (2006), Almeida (2019), Kilomba (2019), Devulsky (2021), Bento (2022), and Carneiro (2023). Data collection was carried out through dialogical narrative interviews (Rocha; Daher; Sant’ Anna, 2004) with the Black students and the teacher from the IFMS who participated in the "Black Beauty" contest. The results indicate that the Black youth view the contest as a resignification of Afro-Brazilian and African culture and feel empowered in the struggle against structural racism through a decolonial and anti-racist learning process. This thesis is organized into three sections: Section I, conditions of production, addresses the meanings of (re)existence against racism, the discourse of whitening, and affirmative actions; Section II deals with issues concerning discourse analysis, knowledge/power devices, discursive formation, and Foucauldian discursive practices. Section III analyzes and reflects on the statements of the Black students/participants and the participating teacher of the contest, observing their discourses and effects of meaning. Finally, the Final Considerations address the results of the narratives of the "Black Beauty" contest participants. This research is expected to contribute to greater visibility of Black narratives, the recognition of aesthetic diversity, and the valorization of Afro-Brazilian identity.

Keywords: Black Beauty; Ethnic-racial; Discourse Analysis; Knowledge-Power.