(Re)Considering Blackness in Contemporary Afro-Brazilian (Con)Texts critically interrogates the issue of Blackness in Brazil under the lens of cultural studies ¿ broadly defined to include utterances on transnationalism and cosmopolitanism. From a multidisciplinary perspective, this collection of scholarly articles queries the notions of national and racial identity and ambivalence, through critical analysis of contemporary (mid-twentieth century to the present) Brazilian cultural materiality, including literature, religion, film/video and theatrical production, and cultural anthropological manifestations. The book¿s purpose is to understand how multiethnic nations, such as Brazil, negotiate issues of Blackness in contemporary contexts. All of the contributing authors are leading Brazilian scholars in the areas of race, gender, theatre, music, literature, film, and religion studies. By concentrating on how these disciplines and ideologies relate to matters concerning Blackness in the construction of identities in Brazil, this book will be of significant value to scholars in the areas of Brazilian studies, Latin American studies, interdisciplinary studies, cultural studies, and African Diaspora studies.

Antonio D. Tillis is Associate Professor and Chair of the African and African American Studies Program at Dartmouth College. He is the current president of the College Language Association (CLA), editor of
PALARA (Publication of the Afro-Latin/American Research Association)
, and a Fulbright Scholar to Brazil. He has published numerous articles in journals such as
The Afro-Hispanic Review, Callaloo, The Hispanic Journal, Mosaic Journal, CLA
, and
Transit Circle
. He is the author of
Manuel Zapata Olivella and the 'Darkening' of Latin American Literature
and translator of
Caribbean African Upon Awakening
, poetry by Blas Jiménez.

Contents: Antonio D. Tillis: Introduction: Blackness and Cultural Tourism in Brazil: The Case of Salvador da Bahia - Maria Aparecida Andrade Salgueiro: Literature, Written Art and Historical Commitment: From
Cadernos
to Conceição Evaristo - Ari Lima: Tradition, History and Spiral of Time in the
Samba de Roda
of Bahia - Eurídice Figueiredo: Cross Readings:
Mestizaje
, Transculturation, Hybridism, and Creolization - Edimilson Pereira de Almeida: Poetry in the Middle of the Street, in the Middle of the Sea: Notes on Ritual and Aesthetics of the
Cantopoeta
in the African-Brazilian Culture - Eduardo de Assis Duarte: Posthumous Memories of Slavery: Blackness and Machado de Assis - Ana Beatriz Gonçalves: Echoes of Africa in the
Pontos
of Umbanda: From Afro-Brazilian to Brazilian - Adélcio de Sousa Cruz:
Noise Literature
and African-Brazilian Narrative in
Cidade de Deus
- Leda Martins: Performing Time, Performing Memory: Africa and Blackness in Brazilian
Congado
- Marcos Antônio Alexandre: Forms of Representation of the Black Body in Performance - Jorge Nacimento: Cultural and Racial Consciousness: The 'calling' of
Racionais MC's
.