Submissive voices: the representation of structural racism in the work O avesso da pele, de Jeferson Tenório
O avesso da pele. Structural racism. Contemporary literature. Necropolitics. Black-Brazilian representatio
This research entitled, Vozes submissas: a representação do racismo estrutural na obra O avesso da pele, de Jeferson Tenório aims to expand literary criticism that deals with structural racism in Brazil, through the work O avesso da pela (2020) by the writer Jeferson Tenório. Along the way, it was possible to analyze questions about representation, the characteristics of Black-Brazilian literary writing, the historical subalternity of Black people in Brazil, the State’s relationship with black bodies and realize that these factors interfere with personal relationships and the consolidation of equality in the face of diversity. The author presents a narrative about the Afro-diasporic reality, experienced by its black characters as protagonists and are pressured by situations of violence of an ethnic-racial nature. Literary views about racial inequality in Brazil would come as a legacy of the colonial past. Structural relations, after abolition, and how opportunities for social mobility are proposed, are some subjects also discussed in the course of the academic work. For the theoretical basis of the discussions, at first we talk about contemporary literature and Black-Brazilian writing and its characteristics, seeking authors such as Agamben (2009), Dalcanstagnè (2012), Ribeiro (2017), Evaristo (2018) among others. In the second part of the development of the work to talk about racism, subalternity of Black people, the concept of necropolitics and the power of the State over black bodies, the authors were Fanon (2020), Moura (2019) Mbembe (2018), Davis (2016 ), Butler (2020) and others. These authors, in short, discuss Brazilian social formation with a focus on the trajectory of Black people and the difficulties faced in guaranteeing their rights. Through Black-Brazilian literary approaches, the aim is to develop the possibility of dialogues, analytical reflections on structural racism in Brazil, its consequences, and how they are represented in literature, from the perspective of breaking prejudice and demystifying concepts present in the work of white writers.