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| Author(s): |
Isabel Cristina Ferreira dos Reis
Total Authors: 1
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| Document type: | Doctoral Thesis |
| Press: | Campinas, SP. |
| Institution: | Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas |
| Defense date: | 2007-10-19 |
| Examining board members: |
Robert Wayne Andrew Slenes;
Izabel Andrade Marson;
João Jose Reis;
Sidney Chalhoub;
Flávio dos Santos Gomes
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| Advisor: | Robert Wayne Andrew Slenes |
| Abstract | |
In this study I investigate black family life in the context of the slave-based society of Bahia, Brazil in the second half of the 19th century. My research particularly examines how social, economic and political changes in the final decades of slavery influenced family relations among blacks, whose legal statuses often differed within the same kin group. I argue that in order to best understand this experience, we must consider it within a distinctly emancipationist set of conditions ¿ including the gradual abolitionist policies constructed and controlled by the State, as well as the self-directed actions toward the liberation of family members by enslaved, free and freed black people. Given these particular historical circumstances, interactions developed among individuals of different legal statuses linked to each other through family ties, affective relationships and broader community connections. This study contributes to understanding a remarkable Afro-Brazilian history of individuals and families in complex and uncommon situations, many of which are reflected in stories told in this work. The study is based on extensive investigation in archival and historiographic sources, by means of which I was able to illuminate important scholarly questions related to 19th century black family life and the daily experience of slavery. A combination of qualitative and demographic sources facilitated an exploration of the meanings that blacks conferred on their own personal and collective experiences as members of family groupings (AU) | |