Carolina Maria de Jesus and her manuscripts in the Atlantic context of Diasporas: cultural connections with Africa and with the African experience in the Americas

• Grant number: 12/21347-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor
• Start date: May 01, 2013
• End date: April 30, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Linguistics, Literature and Arts - Literature - Brazilian Literature
• Principal Investigator: Marcos Antonio de Moraes
• Grantee: Elena Pajaro Peres
• Supervisor: John K. Thornton
• Host Institution: Instituto de Estudos Brasileiros (IEB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Boston University (BU), United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 12/10784-6 - Forbidden Writing. Romantic Expression and African Diaspora in the Manuscripts of Carolina Maria de Jesus, BP.PD

Abstract

The main objective of the research intership in the African American Studies Program at Boston University is to seek documentary and bibliographical materials for analyzing critically the work and life of the writer Carolina Maria de Jesus, a resident for many years of the Canindé favela in São Paulo, on the horizon of transnational cultural context of African diasporas. In this way it will be possible reevaluate her writings, taking into account the interconnections of her work and her creative personality with cultural elements from her group of origin in Central-Africa and in the state of Minas Gerais, as well as resize the cultural importance of her and her work to understand the singular elements of artistic expression and of the African experience in the Americas. The proposal is to bring her manuscripts, many of them unpublished, and her published production closer to this Atlantic configuration of diasporas and cultural creation. This will bring a new look on her literary work, removing her from the category of accidental artist or writer of the shortage which she was often placed. This will also bring a renewed reading of the literary production built in the Diasporas in general. As provided for in the main postdoctoral project, the research internship at Boston University will enable the dialogue with researchers from different areas, such as History, Anthropology and Literary Studies, who are focused on the study of the African and Central-African Diasporas. It will also allow the access to libraries and archives that have a vast amount of material on the subject. Thus, the intership opportunity adds invaluable and substantial gains for the continuity and deepening of the research that we are developing at the Institute for Brazilian Studies at USP. Furthermore it can help in the creation and improvement links between both institutions, contributing to the internationalization of research developed in the State of São Paulo. (AU)