Afro-Paradise: Blackness, Violence, and Performance in Brazil
Christen A. Smith
(Author)
Description
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. Christen A. Smith 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, Smith follows a grassroots movement and social protest theater troupe in their campaigns against racial violence. As Smith 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.Product Details
Price
$31.20
Publisher
University of Illinois Press
Publish Date
January 06, 2016
Pages
280
Dimensions
6.0 X 0.9 X 8.9 inches | 0.95 pounds
Language
English
Type
Paperback
EAN/UPC
9780252081446
BISAC Categories:
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About the Author
Christen A. Smith is Assistant Professor of African and African Diaspora Studies and Anthropology at The University of Texas at Austin.