Inventário

EDITORIAL 36

Wed, 04 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

BLACK WOMEN MOVING TO THE CENTER STAGE:

Mileide Santos Dias, Manuela Santos Dias — Wed, 04 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

In brazilian literary historiography, even in its broader scope, Black women have often been depicted in reductive ways, characterized as passive, lascivious, or animalistic, rather than affirmatively represented. This article examines the evolving portrayal of Black women in national literature, moving from white-patriarchal narratives to Afro-Brazilian literature. Using a bibliographic methodology with a qualitative approach, the study investigates representations of Black motherhood through sociological, psychoanalytic, and literary-critical perspectives. Specifically, it analyzes the vibrant writing of Conceição Evaristo in her short story “Aramides Florença” from the collection Insubmissas lágrimas de mulheres (2020). The findings reveal a long journey toward the inclusion—and permanence—of Black female characters in Brazilian literary historiography, particularly in their roles as mothers raising their children, emphasizing depictions that break away from stereotypes and social impositions.

Maternal Voices: Challenges and Resistance of Black Women in Afro-Brazilian Literature

Lívia Barbosa Pacheco, GILMARA SANTOS SILVA — Wed, 04 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Studying the representations of black motherhood in Afro-Brazilian literature is fundamental to understanding and valuing the unique experiences and challenges faced by these women, promoting critical reflection on issues of race, gender and identity in contemporary society. In this sense, the present study investigates the representations of black motherhood in Afro-Brazilian literature, highlighting the historical and social challenges that permeate this theme. Through a comprehensive literature review, the study analyzes the invisibility and stereotypes associated with black maternal figures in traditional literature and explores the reconfiguration of these representations in contemporary production. The research emphasizes the role of motherhood as an instrument of cultural and political resistance, in addition to considering ancestry as a crucial element in the transmission of knowledge and values. The conclusions point to the need to increase the visibility of black maternal experiences, promoting more diverse and complex narratives that reflect the multiplicity of experiences of this population.

The Plural Representativities and Silencing of Mothers in Afro-brazilian Literature:

Wed, 04 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The objective of the text is to make a study based on literary texts, with a social bias, by emphasizing the black woman and mother in the colonial era to the contemporary. For the weaving of the text, we sought to validate our research with Cândido (2023), Davis (2016) and Giacomini (1887) on social analysis. The corpus of the work presented for the colonial period was Pai contra a Mãe (2017) and Sabrina (2008) by Machado de Assis; the short story Lucinda Mucama, from Vítimas Algozes (2005) by Joaquim Manuel; and the contemporary Olhos d'água da Conceição Evaristo (2018). It is concluded that the literature still presents the traits of racial and gender oppression present in the social reality.

A MULHER NEGRA E O CUIDADO

Pabliny Marques de Aquino — Wed, 04 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This paper proposes a debate on the intersectional impacts of racism, sexism, and class oppression on caregiving relationships, with a specific focus on Black women and their experiences of motherhood. We draw on Joan Tronto's (1997) perspective to discuss caregiving from a social, cultural, and political lens. Tronto explores caregiving through a feminist approach, allowing us to move beyond discussions of care as something confined to the private and subjective sphere and to bring it into a theoretical-critical field. Using the Life Narratives methodology, as proposed by Bertaux (2010), we explore the story of a black woman who shared her and her mother’s life trajectory, enabling a deeper theoretical and critical examination of the issue of care. This narrative provides a rich and unique perspective, bringing voice, body, and color to the discussion, which facilitates a more profound analysis of the roles historically assigned to Black women in the context of caregiving. Historically, these women are associated with the role of caregivers, yet paradoxically, they are often denied the right to be cared for and to freely exercise care for their own children. Through this narrative, we seek to highlight and question the normalization of the caregiving role assigned to Black women, while also analyzing the systemic exclusion that prevents them from having care fully guaranteed and recognized.

FILHAS DAS VOZES ANCESTRAIS

Jeciely Ildefonso de Oliveira — Wed, 04 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This essay explores the importance of ancestry and motherhood in the poetry of black women, highlighting how these themes intertwine to strengthen female identity and resistance. Through an analysis of the works of Conceição Evaristo (2017) and Ryane Leão (2019), the continuity of ancestral voices and the transmission of wisdom between generations is highlighted. In Vozes-mulheres, Conceição Evaristo weaves an intergenerational narrative that gives voice to her ancestors and emphasizes the deep connection between past, present and future. Ryane Leão, in poems such as sankofa, reflects on and expands the themes presented by Evaristo, reinforcing the importance of telling stories and honoring the experiences of the women who came before. The essay also addresses the theoretical contributions of Luce Irigaray (1974), bell hooks (1981) and Djamila Ribeiro (2017) to black feminism, highlighting intersectionality as an essential tool for understanding the multiple oppressions that affect black women. The integration of theoretical perspectives with poetic expressions demonstrates how literature acts as a space of resistance and empowerment. By recognizing and celebrating ancestry and motherhood, women poets strengthen collective identity and promote the continuity of struggles for justice and equality. The essay thus highlights the importance of giving voice to silenced experiences and valuing the contributions of black women in building a more inclusive society.

VIDA CAROLINA

Tatiane de Oliveira, Renilson Rosa Ribeiro — Wed, 04 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Between browsing social media, who chooses to sit down and tell or listen to someone? Difficult mission, especially involving young people. However, recognizing the transformative power of listening and eye-to-eye dialogue and exchanging experiences (Benjamin, 2012), this article, which is an excerpt from doctoral research in the area of Literary Studies, listens to the oral history of a woman young student, from the popular stratum, from technical education integrated into high school, at IFMT and articulates these voices and experiences with those of Carolina Maria de Jesus, in the literary work Quarto de Despejo: diary of a favela resident, focusing on the experiences of motherhood that are different , especially due to gender, race and class, in Brazil. The methodology is testimonial oral history (Meihy; Seawright, 2021), through interview. Prepare to read painful experiences, but with a lot of courage in search of a less unequal life for yourself and your children.

Motherhood and original guilt

Michela Sposato — Wed, 04 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The article explores the theme of motherhood, an essential thread in Marilene Felinto's first and main novel, As mulheres de Tijucopapo. The temporal dimension of the novel is analyzed through the psychological time of the narrator and protagonist, Rísia, whose stream of consciousness and personal memories determine the rhythm of the narrative. The past emerges as the predominant time, with a strong focus on childhood memories, which permeate the narrative. Rísia's most significant relationships are examined, her emblematic relationship with the figure of her mother, who plays a crucial role in her formation and identity.

In addition, the article focuses on the symbolic dimension, analysing elements repeatedly present in the novel, characterised by a powerful evocative charge. This study offers a privileged starting point for the analysis of the figure of the black woman, placing her in dialogue with the reflections of important black thinkers and writers. In this way, the analysis of Felinto's novel offers important perspectives on the dynamics of gender, ethnicity and class in contemporary Brazilian literature.

TIA NASTÁCIA E O MITO DA MÃE PRETA

Monique Ferreira — Wed, 04 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Este ensaio tem como objetivo problematizar a personagem Tia Nastácia, da literatura infantil brasileira de Monteiro Lobato, à luz do mito da mãe preta teorizado por Lélia Gonzalez (1984). Busca-se revelar as sutilezas e contradições dessa representação, destacando tanto os mecanismos de poder que reforçam o lugar de subserviência da mulher negra e solidificam o mito quanto àqueles que o desconstroem, evidenciando uma figura de poder que incorpora a cultura e os saberes populares — um saber mágico e empírico, fruto do conhecimento de vida, que exalta aspectos da cultura afro-brasileira. Assim, esta reflexão compreende a personagem como um marco para debater como a mulher e a maternidade negra são representadas e apreciadas. Dispomo-nos a refletir sobre como o 'mito da mãe preta' pode ajudar a entender as nuances entre poder e subserviência na figura de Tia Nastácia e seu impacto na percepção da maternidade negra. Ao reavaliar essas narrativas, encontramos uma oportunidade de celebrar as contribuições das mulheres e mães negras, que, mesmo diante de estruturas opressoras, conseguiram afirmar sua presença e importância. Reconhecer essa dinâmica é um passo essencial para desmantelar estereótipos, questionar a invisibilidade e valorizar a diversidade e o protagonismo dessas mulheres na criação, no cuidado e na transmissão de valores culturais.

MOTHERING BLACK WOMEN'S LITERATURE

Pâmela Paula Souza Neri — Wed, 04 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

As vozes que gestam em Conceição Evaristo são as da escrevivência, na qual a autora busca reconstruir os mitos da mulher negra ora maternal apenas para os corpos brancos, no papel da mãe-preta, ora pelo corpo objetificado e sexualizado. Logo, pretende-se discutir como Evaristo parte desses estereótipos para romper com visão da maternidade esfacelada das mulheres negras, primeiro ao tecer mães que para maternar o fazem pela narração do alento e da dor em Becos da Memória; assim como uma maternidade vivida por um corpo-texto que, de igual modo, também é território de prazer em Olhos d’Água. Para tanto, partimos primeiramente da interpretação da ausência da maternidade negra nas linhas da criação estética; e o gestar da literatura por exemplos de mães criadas pela parecença autora e personagem em Evaristo. Nossa leitura é decolonial com base nas concepções de Almeida (2023); Evaristo (2009); Hills (2019); Kilomba (2019), Roncador (2008) entre outros.

Black Motherhood and Animist Realism in Conceição Evaristo

Luana Passos, Leandro Passos — Wed, 04 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This article analyzes the short story “Os Guris de Dolores Feliciana” by Conceição Evaristo through the lenses of animist realism and Black motherhood. Utilizing Harry Garuba’s concepts of animist realism and Muniz Sodré’s ideas, this study explores how the integration of spiritual and ancestral elements forms a narrative where the spiritual and material are intertwined, reflecting the protagonist’s reality and her relationship with the memory of her lost children. The analysis also addresses the concept of “literary ginga” by Luana Passos (2024), expressing a fluid and dynamic movement characteristic of Black Brazilian literature, incorporating aspects of ancestry, rhythm, and orality. By emphasizing cultural resilience and the preservation of Black memory, Evaristo’s narrative emerges as a denunciation of racial violence faced by Black Brazilian women. The text also draws upon the ideas of Luiz Silva (Cuti, 2010), reinforcing the need for a literary critique that values the specificity of Black Brazilian literature and promotes the visibility of characters and experiences often marginalized in traditional literature.

ENTRE A FICÇÃO E A REALIDADE

Dinameire Rios, Soraima Martins Ferreira — Wed, 04 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The present work aims to analyze the representations of motherhood in contemporary literature, in its dimensions of gender, race and class. Thus, we start from this intersectional perspective to discuss the construction of maternal relationships in two characters, Maria, from the short story of the same name in the work Olhos d´agua (2015), by Conceição Evaristo, and Francisca, a character from the story “Fuzil no portão” , from the book O olho da rua (2008), by Eliane Brum. These two texts establish a forceful dialogue by bringing as a driving force in their narratives the existence of poor, peripheral, working women from the dimension of motherhood and the social obstacles common to this subject, such as oppression and violence.

MÃETERNIDADE NAS OBRAS A COR DA TERNURA, DE GENI MARIANO GUIMARÃES, E PONCIÁ VICÊNCIO, DE CONCEIÇÃO EVARISTO

Eliane da Silva Alves Deniz , MARINETE LUZIA FRANCISCA DE SOUZA — Wed, 04 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

In this article, we work, through a comparative study, on the way in which motherhood is metaphorized in the works A cor da ternura (1989), by Geni Mariano Guimarães, and Ponciá Vicêncio (2003), by Conceição Evaristo. Therefore, we establish a discussion about how the main characters, Geni and Ponciá, are permeated by their relationship with their mothers, but also by patriarchy. The focus will be on the legacies of Ponciá and Geni, as well as the legacies they collected to support their beings, in their daily lives and in their intersubjective relationships with their mothers, who build a motherhood closely linked to their experience as black women. Therefore, the relationships in the novels led us to understand that the motherhood of black women crosses the common notion of time, thus, mãeternidade is woven through the care and ancestral teachings passed on to their daughters. The examination of narratives is supported by post-colonial, decolonial, black feminist studies and literary critics, such as Duarte (2009 and 2020), Kilomba (2019), Gonzalez (2020) Foucault (2013) Halbwachs (1990) and Deniz (2024).

Maternal narratives in Chica da Silva's female and Afro-Brazilian portraits

Ester Estevão da Silva — Wed, 04 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This article investigates the representations of motherhood and the body of the historical figure Francisca da Silva de Oliveira, known as Chica da Silva, in works by Afro-Brazilian women. Based on Afro-Brazilian literary productions, such as Chica da Silva - A Mulher que Inventou o Mar (2001), by Lia Vieira, and Chica da Silva - Romance de uma Vida (2016), by Joyce Ribeiro, as well as the historiographical work Chica da Silva e o Contratador de Diamantes: The Other Side of the Myth (2003), by Júnia Furtado, the study highlights the deconstruction of traditional narratives that have reduced Chica to eroticized and dehumanizing stereotypes. The analysis reveals that these works reconstruct Chica da Silva as a complex woman, attentive to motherhood and engaged in reframing her role in the 18th century mining elite, breaking with the limits of racism and misogyny.

The approach highlights the centrality of motherhood in the construction of her identity and shows how black-female literature and critical historiography broaden the horizons of Afro-descendant narratives, promoting a plural and humanizing vision of black women in colonial Brazil.

BABÁ, “A MULHER QUE CRIA O BEBÊ DE OUTRA MULHER”

Mariana Filgueiras de Souza — Wed, 04 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Encarregada dos cuidados da primeira infância dentro do espaço doméstico, com peculiar proximidade afetiva com a família empregadora, a babá é um ofício legado da escravidão, quando as mucamas amamentavam e criavam os filhos das sinhazinhas. O termo babá vem do quimbundo, língua da família banta falada em Angola. Significa “ama”, a mulher que cria o bebê de outra. Foi na nebulosa proximidade entre babá e bebê no Brasil que as palavras se misturaram, fortalecendo o pretuguês (González, 2020), e que as narrativas orais contadas por elas criaram conexões entre as culturas africanas, indígenas e portuguesas, como uma estratégia de resistência cultural. Este artigo compara diferenças e permanências na mediação duas babás protagonistas na história literária brasileira, separadas por 116 anos entre a escrita de um texto e outro: Quirina, do conto “Babá”, de Lima Barreto, de 1904; e Maju, protagonista do romance Suíte Tóquio, de Giovana Madalosso, publicado em 2020.

A MULHER NEGRA, EMPREGADA DOMÉSTICA E MÃE

Flávia Guerra Rocha Campos — Wed, 04 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Este artigo explora, por meio da análise do conto O Filho de Gabriela, de Lima Barreto, como, já no início do século XX, no contexto pós-abolicionista brasileiro, o autor propõe algumas questões, como: a voz da mulher negra subalterna frente ao exercício de sua maternidade e a relação entre gênero, raça e classe. O objetivo é refletir sobre a maneira como o autor lançou luz à situação econômica e social da mulher negra, ao ocupar os papéis de empregada doméstica e mãe diante de uma sociedade racista, patriarcal e capitalista. Assim, constata-se que está presente, neste conto barretiano, uma representação da mulher negra destoante de outras obras do cânone literário, uma vez que diversos autores descreveram essa personagem apenas a partir de sua subserviência. Nesse sentido, predomina, na literatura brasileira, a abordagem das personagens negras resignadas ao poder hegemônico colonial, proibidas de contrariarem o sistema que mantém características escravocratas. Em contraponto a tal aspecto, em O Filho de Gabriela, há uma personagem que ousa impor sua voz, desafiando as normas e revelando a complexidade e a resistência da mulher negra ao tentar sobrepor o seu papel de mãe ao de empregada doméstica.

YAYA DUDU Black mater

Roseli Gimenes, Jorgina Santos — Wed, 04 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Motherhood for black women in Brazil presents specificities that manifest themselves in different dimensions of social, cultural and economic life. These specificities are shaped by a combination of historical, social and cultural factors that uniquely affect these women's experiences. In this sense, the historical and cultural heritage of the legacy of slavery are key points

The objectives of this article are to explore, in some contemporary Brazilian literary works, the challenges for motherhood for black mothers through forms of resistance and resilience.

For the methodological treatment of this research, we used the qualitative approach of literature review and discourse analysis to understand how the works of Almeida, hooks and Ribeiro, highlighted, enable systemic and social reflection on the resistance and resilience of black mothers in relation to motherhood in contemporary literary works such as Um defeito de cor,  Marrom e Amarelo,  Quando me descobri negra,  Salvar o fogo, among others.

The question that arose was: could it be that in these contemporary works of literature there was a result of the achievements of motherhood by black mothers due to the resistance, the resilience, the struggles that engendered previous centuries in these women in opposition to the structural aspects of slavery?

The works of the authors mentioned in the methodology as well as contemporary literature contribute to understanding the struggle of these black women so that they can overcome prejudice, structural racism and the concept of motherhood that was previously considered as a conception of objects: children for objects – enslaved mothers.

A MATERNIDADE NEGRA LGBT EM MATA DOCE, DE LUCIANY APARECIDA

Ana Carolina Morais de Souza, Paulo Henrique Pressotto — Wed, 04 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Mata doce (2023) is the first novel by Bahian Luciany Aparecida, already recognized in the literary scene for her short stories and poetry. The novel has as its protagonist Maria Teresa, who lives with her mothers in an old family mansion, founded by the matriarch Eustáquia da Vazante, a brave woman who had fled slavery and had taken refuge in that place, building the mansion and founding the village of Mata Doce along with all those who arrived there on the run and sought support in the woman for her strength. In the narrative, we follow from the arrival of Filinha, as Maria Teresa is also called, to her end, in a non-linear story full of exciting events. Mata doce is a powerful story with many cruel acts of white and greedy men like the infamous Colonel Amâncio, but also of great tenderness, love and poetry like those experienced by the women of the lajedo, Filinha's mothers: the teacher Mariinha and the transvestite Tuninha. The present work aims to carry out an interpretative analysis of black and LGBT motherhood represented in the novel, through a bibliographic review in the light of theoretical concepts such as those of Bento (2017), Baia (2021), Baracat (2021), Bastos (2021), Collins (2019), Maux (2010) and Zambrano (2005). Seeking to carry out a reflective and critical analysis of this powerful work of national contemporary fiction literature that brings essential themes to be debated today, also making the work better known by critics and the public.

A REPRESENTAÇÃO DA MATERNIDADE NOS POEMAS "LIÇÃO DE CASA” E "O MELHOR DO MEU AMOR" DE LUCIENE CARVALHO

Ednaldo Saran, Luciane Ferreira — Wed, 04 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This article aims to analyze the representations of the female body and motherhood in the work of Luciene Carvalho. For this purpose, the poems “Lição de Casa” and “O Melhor do Meu Amor” were selected, which deal with the challenges and meanings of motherhood from the perspective of love and the social pain experienced by black women in contemporary times. The analysis explores the historical and ideological practices that shape sociocultural conflicts surrounding the position of black women and the right to freedom over their bodies. Literary representation can reinforce or deconstruct cultural stereotypes about black women’s motherhood. The theoretical basis for this analysis is Beauvoir (1980), Badinter (2011), Bell Hooks (2020), Carneiro (2003), Davis (2016), and Evaristo (2009). In her poems, Luciene Carvalho reveals her experience through family and ancestral ties, highlighting the importance of the maternal figure in the construction of identity, especially in the face of the challenges imposed by the intersection between race, gender and color for Afro-descendant women.

A SUBVERSÃO DA MATERNIDADE EM A FILHA PRIMITIVA, DE VANESSA PASSOS

Tiago Pereira da Silva — Wed, 04 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This article examines The Primitive Daughter by Vanessa Passos, highlighting how the author’s writing addresses issues of motherhood, identity, and ancestry through a feminist critical lens. The protagonist, identified merely as "mother," embarks on a journey of self-discovery and resistance to the patriarchal system that seeks to silence and define women. Motherhood is portrayed in an ambiguous light, serving as both a space of subjugation and reinvention. The absence of proper names for the characters symbolizes the loss of identity for Black women, whose histories and ancestries are often erased. Structural and symbolic violence against Black women runs throughout the work, with writing becoming a tool for resistance and the assertion of a new identity. The reflection on motherhood challenges the myth of maternal instinct, proposing a demystification of the traditional maternal role. In her quest for self-identity, the protagonist confronts societal expectations and, through writing, seeks to distance herself from the fate imposed upon her to reinvent her own existence.

A MAMÃE FOI TRABALHAR ONDE?

Carla Alexsandra Souza , Eliana de Jesus Santos — Wed, 04 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Starting from the recognition that the mothering experiences of Black people have historically been anchored in colonialist and Eurocentric narratives within the context of Brazilian literature, we cannot overlook the impacts of these perspectives on the constructions of our subjectivities. Whether through stigmatization or the nullification of experiences, there is a deliberate failure in these productions that insists on crystallizing Blackness in places of impossibilities for construction, particularly regarding effective networks of affection within parental relationships. However, literary movements aimed at destabilizations, fissures, and ruptures with these images are being created, such as in the work A Mãe que Voava, which tells the story of little Alice who watches her mother work both inside and outside the home, relying on a crucial factor: the possibility of return. The experience of work for Black women outside their homes is specifically supported by the impossibility of return and, consequently, the distancing from their own families. The book offers us other possibilities rooted in affection, presence, and the existence of a Black motherhood that subverts and transgresses a hegemony of whiteness, updating our perceptions of Black parenthoods and pointing to the complexity of our experiences.

AS VOZES DAS MÃES PRETAS NA OBRA CANTOS DO EQUADOR, DE MELLO MORAES FILHO

DANIEL DE ASSIS SOARES — Wed, 04 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

In this article, we will conduct an analytical and attentive reading of the poems contained in poems about slavery, the third part of the book Cantos do Equador, by Mello Moraes Filho, whose themes are related to the motherhood of black women. For better understand this reading, we will first address the historical, social and political contexts, which are closely related to the theme and corroborated by an extensive theoretical framework. In order to address these contexts in a correlated manner, we will carry out the following thematic division: in primo loco, a brief history of slavery and abolitionist poetry, which emerged as one of the reactions of the movement for the end of slavery itself. This political movement involved several social segments, including intellectuals and poets, such as Castro Alves and Moraes Filho himself; then, we will look at the stereotypes of black women, how they relate to and unfold among themselves. In addition, we will address the mythical issue surrounding these and how they are seen in the social imagination; Finally, we will read poems with themes related to black mothers, whose voices were silenced by the slave-owning and oppressive society of their time. These voices found a place to speak in Moraes Filho's poetry, where they echo to present day.