Partilhas carolineana e morrisiana: história e memória transnacional das relações de mulheres negras de 1960 a 1980

Abstract

This dissertation is a historical, documentary, and iconographic study that aims to analyze the connections established in 20th-century Black women's literature regarding reflections on ethnic-racial issues related to the so-called historical periods of "colonialism" and "post-colonialism," drawing on Aníbal Quijano's (2019) analysis of the coloniality of power. To this end, we used two literary works as objects of study: "Quarto de Despejo" (1960), by Carolina Maria de Jesus, and "Amada" (1987), by Toni Morrison. The analysis was conducted using the method of Crusader History, under the perspective of comparative literature, in order to connect similarities and differences between the books and the receptions of the authors who, despite writing from different geographical and social places —Brazil and the United States, respectively—reveal, through their writing, ethnic-racial relations. We also used Carlo Ginzburg's Italian microhistory method to conduct interdisciplinary research, linking History and Literature with the dimensions of memory present in the authors' poetics. Our overall objective was, initially, to construct a panorama of ethnic-racial relations to highlight the protagonism of Black women throughout history, particularly between the 1960s and 1980s, as this was a period markedly dominated by Black women in literature, as evidenced by the works analyzed. We correlated the study with Jacques Rancière's (2000) concept of the sharing of the sensible, seeking to understand how this concept is reflected in the literary texts of Carolina Maria de Jesus and Toni Morrison. We concluded that the works share memories that contain historical testimonies about the protagonism of Black women, enabling the strengthening of the theme. We used theoretical frameworks from intellectuals such as Raymond Williams (2001), Jeanne Gagnebin (2009), and Lélia Gonzalez (2002). For this research, we gathered a collection of sources about the authors, available at the National Digital Library, the Moreira Salles Institute, and the Getty Images website. The latter contains the largest collection of historical photographs of Toni Morrison, which, along with other sources, helped us contextualize the authors' lives and trajectories. We also conducted a bibliographical survey based on research available in the Capes dissertation and theses database. Thus, this study contributes to expanding knowledge about the protagonism of Black women in Literature and History, drawing on the sensitive writings that both left as a source of historical memory for the study of this period.