DESCRIPTION:

Brazil has the largest population of people of African descent in the Americas. Of all the countries of the Americas, it is the nation whose racial dynamics are most frequently compared and contrasted with those of the United States. It shares with the U.S. a comparable history of European colonization, indigenous displacement and genocide, racial slavery, and worldwide immigration. For generations of observers, however, Brazilian race relations have generally been regarded as irreducibly different from those of the United States. In many ways Brazil may be thought of as a "diasporic counterpoint" to the U.S., with a distinct, although not necessarily more benign racial formation. Once heralded internationally as a "racial democracy," Brazil has been the subject of an ongoing critical re-evaluation which has revealed a vast gap between the national ideal and the social reality. The ideas of "race" and the various forms of institutional and quotidian racism in Brazil make for compelling contrasts and comparisons with the United States. This course will focus on a wide range of themes, issues, and problems in Afro-Brazilian Studies since the abolition of slavery in 1888. The first part of the course will focus on the legacy of slavery, the circumstances and aftermath of abolition, the impact of European immigration, the development of a unique nationalist discourse on race during the early 20^th century, and early Afro-Brazilian responses to the emerging modern order. The second part of the course will focus on the contemporary period, examining everyday forms of racism and anti-racism in Brazil, the role of the mass media in reproducing (and, in some cases, contesting) Eurocentric ideals, and recent organized efforts to combat racial discrimination in Brazilian society. The final part of the course will focus on Afro-Brazilian cultural practices such as the Afro-Diasporic religion Candomblé and the dance-fight Capoeira, which have emerged in the 20^th century as important vehicles for identity formation, resistance, and community-building among urban Afro-Brazilian populations. Throughout the course, students will be encouraged to think comparatively. The United States and other New World societies serving as counterpoints to the Brazilian situation. Most of the texts we will be reading are recent interventions in the disciplines of history, anthropology, and cultural studies.

OBJECTIVES:

1) Understand the specificity of modern Brazilian national identity in relation to other American nationalities.

2) Explore elite and popular constructions of "race" as a meaningful social and cultural category in Brazil.

3) Learn about ways in which Afro-Brazilians have responded politically since abolition to various forms of exclusion and discrimination in the labor market, the media, the educational system, state institutions, etc.

4) Gain kwowledge about various forms of Afro-Brazilian cultural expression, both religious and secular, and understand how these forms contribute to identity formation, resistance, and negotiation in Brazilian society.

ATTENDANCE AND PARTICIPATION

This course will be conducted as a seminar with occasional lectures. Students are expected to attend all class sessions, read all assignments, and come prepared to contribute to discussions. Each student will have up to two unexcused absences without a penalty. Beginning with the third absence (and for each subsequent absence) 2% will be deducted from your final grade.

EVALUATION

1) Regular class attendance and participation in discussions........20%

2) Mid-semester exam....................................................20%

3) Bibliographic review of 5 or more texts (3-5 pages)..............20%

4) Final research paper (15-18 pages)..................................40%

READING LIST

September 6: Two short videos: "Axé" and "Black Women of Brazil"

September 13: Winant. Racial Conditions (111-169)

September 18: Skidmore. Black into White (3-77)

November 20: Wafer. The Taste of Blood (vii-xii, 3-49)

December 6: Lewis. Ring of Liberation (86-218)