Skip to Main Content

Afro-Paradise: Blackness, Violence, and Performance in Brazil

Online ISBN:
9780252098093
Print ISBN:
9780252039935
Publisher:
University of Illinois Press
Book

Afro-Paradise: Blackness, Violence, and Performance in Brazil

Christen A. Smith
Christen A. Smith
The University of Texas at Austin
Find on
Published:
1 February 2016
Online ISBN:
9780252098093
Print ISBN:
9780252039935
Publisher:
University of Illinois Press

Abstract

Tourists exult in Bahia, Brazil, as a tropical paradise infused with the black population's one-of-a-kind vitality. But the alluring images of smiling black faces and dancing black bodies masks an ugly reality of anti-black authoritarian violence. This book argues that the dialectic of glorified representations of black bodies and subsequent state repression reinforces Brazil's racially hierarchal society. Interpreting the violence as both institutional and performative, the book follows a grassroots movement and social protest theater troupe in their campaigns against racial violence. As the book reveals, economies of black pain and suffering form the backdrop for the staged, scripted, and choreographed afro-paradise that dazzles visitors. The work of grassroots organizers exposes this relationship, exploding illusions and asking unwelcome questions about the impact of state violence performed against the still-marginalized mass of Afro-Brazilians.

Contents
Close
This Feature Is Available To Subscribers Only

Sign In or Create an Account

Close

This PDF is available to Subscribers Only

View Article Abstract & Purchase Options

For full access to this pdf, sign in to an existing account, or purchase an annual subscription.

Close