Title data
Gruber, Valerie V. V.:
Epistemologies of the Body : Cultural Resistance in Salvador (Brazil) and Cartagena (Colombia).
2021
Event: XXIV Biennial Graduate Student Colloquium : Hegemonic Ideologies and Resistance in Iberian, Latin American, and Latinx Languages, Literatures and Cultures
, 25.-26. Feb. 2021
, Austin, USA / online.
(Conference item: Conference
,
Speech
)
Project information
Project title: |
Project's official title Project's id Moral Geographies of Re-Existence: Socio-cultural Practices and Visions of a Good Life in Afro-descendant Communities in Salvador da Bahia (Brazil) and Cartagena de Indias (Colombia) EXC 2052/1 – 390713894 |
---|---|
Project financing: |
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft This presentation is the outcome of research conducted within the Africa Multiple Cluster of Excellence at the University of Bayreuth, funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) under Germany's Excellence Strategy – EXC 2052/1 – 390713894. |
Abstract in another language
Salvador da Bahia (Brazil) and Cartagena de Indias (Colombia) are traumatic places where Afro-diasporic communities challenge persistent colonial ideologies through manifold practices of resistance. Both cities were former ports of the transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans and, nowadays, they are recognized as UNESCO World Heritage sites. This paper explores how residents of marginalized neighborhoods in both cities struggle against domination by means of cultural practices such as music, dance and poetry. Their movements, rhythms, song texts and Afro hairstyles contest racialized stigmatization and inscribe counter-narratives in spaces structured by (neo-)colonial hierarchies. They help recover from traumatic experiences, preserve silenced memories, reconstruct fragmented identities and re-signify neglected knowledges. To engage with these bodily modes of cultural resistance, which are often sidelined by Western academia, we developed an approach of participatory action research with the REPROTAI network from Salvador and the Candilé cultural group from Cartagena. Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, however, we have been realizing our activities only in the virtual sphere. Thereby, the bodily dimension of cultural resistance turned out to be even more important than previously thought. Against this backdrop, my paper explores the notion of Epistemologies of the Body, focusing on those processes of resistance that are ephemeral, tactical and corporeal. This is particularly important in places where black bodies have been systematically objectified and violated for centuries. As a whole, the project aims at calling our attention to collective practices which are often overlooked by linguistic and discursive academic approaches.
Further data
Item Type: | Conference item (Speech) |
---|---|
Refereed: | Yes |
Keywords: | Epistemologies; Body; Culture; Resistance; African Diaspora |
Institutions of the University: | Research Institutions > Collaborative Research Centers, Research Unit > EXC 2052 - Africa Multiple: Afrikastudien neu gestalten Graduate Schools > BIGSAS Research Institutions Research Institutions > Collaborative Research Centers, Research Unit Graduate Schools |
Result of work at the UBT: | Yes |
DDC Subjects: | 300 Social sciences > 300 Social sciences, sociology and anthropology 700 Arts and recreation > 700 Arts 900 History and geography |
Date Deposited: | 01 Mar 2021 14:54 |
Last Modified: | 01 Mar 2021 14:54 |
URI: | https://eref.uni-bayreuth.de/id/eprint/63528 |