BRAZILIAN BLACK HEROINES: FROM THE CONDITION OF OBJECT TO SUBJECTS OF HISTORY REPRESENTED IN CORDEL LITERATURE BY JARID ARRAES
Cordel Literature. Subalternity. Black Heroines.
This dissertation proposed to highlight the characteristics of black women presented as heroines in string by Jarid Arraes (2017), reviewing aspects related to the condition of slave women in Brazil, to give visibility to their participation in the struggle for the freedom of slaves, considering that, historically, they were treated as objects/merchandise and had their actions suppressed from history, referred to as the paradigm of the absence of the negro in official records, especially with regard to the participation of women in this process. To this end, the book Brazilian Black Heroines in 15 Strings, by Jarid Arraes (2017) was defined as the corpus, justified by the relevance of the theme that presents, also because it is produced in string, a literary genre that, similar to the official treatment given to the leading role of these women, for a long time, had its value placed on the margins of what was considered Literature; and also because it has, as an author, a black woman: elements that dialogue with each other. In the first chapter, the cordelist is presented and aspects related to the history and structure of the string, considering the silencing of cordelists women. In the second chapter, the heroines of the work and strings are presented that evidence the condition of object to which they were subjected. And in the third chapter, history is revisited and the leading role exercised by black women in favor of the liberation of their people is rescued by the strings. The analysis of the work enables, among others, the following conclusions: the string as a relevant literary genre and with strong didactic potential; the black woman instructed about her ancestry has increased her possibilities of emancipation and empowerment, despite the gender and race inequalities that persist; the significant role that young black writers play in spreading the legacy of these heroines, thus shaking the paradigm of the absence of black women in the official history of Brazilian slavery.