“Porque a minha vida é isso: uma comunidade!”: ancestralidade, escolaridade, exílio e insílio em representações de mulheres quilombolas e de mulheres moçambicanas

Abstract

The present work “Because this is my life: a community!”: ancestry, education, exile and insilio in the representations of quilombola women and mozambican women is an attempt to echo the voice of quilombola women from Brazil in dialogue with Brazilian literature, the voice of Mozambican women in dialogue with Mozambican literature, in addition to intertwining all these voices and sewing them with my memory of being a black Brazilian woman. Initially, I analyze the representation of quilombos and quilombolas in Brazilian literature from the 19th century to the present day, specifically in prose; then, I highlight the Brazilian legislation that refers to quilombola communities to understand how this concept has changed over the centuries; and, through the narratives of quilombola women from Bahia, Ceará and Maranhão, I intend, in addition to defining what a quilombo is, being a quilombola, memory, ancestry and resistance through their own voices, to outline a possible definition for the term “quilombola literature” and, thus, expand what we know as Brazilian literature. In Mozambique, I did the same thing, analyzing the representations of Mozambican women in some prose texts from that country and then interviewing Mozambican women from the north and south of the country. In Brazil, I interviewed 16 (sixteen) women aged between 28 and 94, while in Mozambique, I interviewed 6 (six) women from the north and south of the country aged between 18 and 43. However, only a few interviews will be analyzed. I consider the interviewees as part of the theoretical framework, the methodological perspective, and as participants in the thesis. They are: Dona Gorete Gomes, Quilombo das Queimadas, Crateús, Ceará; Dorinete Serejo, Quilombo de Canelatiua, Alcântara, Maranhão; Felizarda Said, Nampula, Northern Mozambique; Gina Dantas, Fortaleza, Ceará; Irene de Jesus, Quilombo de Itamatatiua, Alcântara, Maranhão; Maria da Paixão [Dona Lia], Quilombo Flores, Bahia; Michelly Lourenço, Quilombo das Queimadas, Crateús, Ceará; Neide de Jesus, Quilombo de Itamatatiua, Alcântara, Maranhão; Roberta Xavier, Quilombo das Queimadas, Crateús, Ceará; Rosa Francisco, coordinator at ASCHA, Nampula, Northern Mozambique; Sofia Abdallah, Maputo, Southern Mozambique; Zena Alberto, Nampula, Northern Mozambique; Yara Costa, Northern Mozambique; Yara Marcelino, Maputo, Southern Mozambique. By bringing these conversations into our work, they are intertwined with literary texts and my memories to understand how all our stories come together and move apart. The text will have a theoretical dialogue with Abdias Nascimento (2016; 2019), Alfredo Wagner Berno de Almeida (2008), Beatriz Nascimento (2021), Conceição Evaristo (2010), Edmilson de Almeida Pereira (2010), Francisco Noa (2020; 2022), Nazir Ahmed Can (2020), Grada Kilomba (2019), Leda Maria Martins (2021), Lélia Gonzalez (2019), Regina Dalcastagnè (2012), among other authors. However, the interviews with the women will also be considered as theoretical input for this work.