FROM HERITAGE TO WORLD-MAKING: AFRO-BRAZILIAN CULTURE AS A HISTORICAL FORM OF SOCIAL ORGANIZATION

Authors

  • Cinthia Aparecida Lemes

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.63330/sasciencesv6n2-082

Keywords:

Afro-Brazilian culture, Brotherhoods, Capoeira, Memory, Social organization, Terreiros

Abstract

This article argues that Afro-Brazilian culture should not be understood as static heritage, residual folklore, or merely symbolic expression, but as a historical form of organization of Black social life. Drawing on authors such as Clóvis Moura, Muniz Sodré, Lucilene Reginaldo, Marina de Mello e Souza, Roberto Conduru, Leda Maria Martins, Josivaldo Pires de Oliveira, and Luiz Augusto Pinheiro Leal, the text analyzes terreiros, brotherhoods, capoeira, festivals, and Afro-Brazilian art as institutions that produce memory, belonging, authority, and territoriality. It also examines how the national narrative expropriates, aestheticizes, and erases these practices, turning them into depoliticized signs of diversity. The central hypothesis is that Afro-Brazilian culture produces worlds, cities, and sociability rather than merely preserving traditions.

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References

CONDURU, Roberto. Arte afro-brasileira. Belo Horizonte: C/Arte, 2007.

MARTINS, Leda Maria. Afrografias da memória: o Reinado do Rosário no Jatobá. 2. ed. São Paulo: Perspectiva, 2021.

MOURA, Clóvis. Sociologia do negro brasileiro. São Paulo: Ática, 1988.

OLIVEIRA, Josivaldo Pires de; LEAL, Luiz Augusto Pinheiro. Capoeira, identidade e gênero: ensaios sobre a história social da capoeira no Brasil. Salvador: EDUFBA, 2009.

REGINALDO, Lucilene. Os Rosários dos Angolas: irmandades de africanos e crioulos na Bahia setecentista. São Paulo: Alameda, 2011.

SCHWARCZ, Lilia. Nem preto nem branco, muito pelo contrário. São Paulo: Claro Enigma, 2012.

SODRÉ, Muniz. O terreiro e a cidade: a forma social negro-brasileira. Rio de Janeiro: Mauad X, 2019.

SOUZA, Marina de Mello e. Reis negros no Brasil escravista: história da festa de coroação do Rei Congo. Belo Horizonte: Editora UFMG, 2006.

Published

2026-07-20

How to Cite

Lemes, C. A. . (2026). FROM HERITAGE TO WORLD-MAKING: AFRO-BRAZILIAN CULTURE AS A HISTORICAL FORM OF SOCIAL ORGANIZATION. South American Sciences, 6(2), e26303. https://doi.org/10.63330/sasciencesv6n2-082