SOURCE: de Tejada, Cristina Sáenz. “Blacks in Brazilian Literature: A Long Journey from Concealment to Recognition.” Hispanofila 121 (September 1997): 61-74.

In the following essay, de Tejada traces the changing images of blacks and black culture in contemporary novels by Brazilian and Afro-Brazilian writers.

Over the past twenty years, Afro-Brazilians have been experiencing significant changes in their country parallel to the beginning of a democratic society, and a new vision of the world that is reevaluating historically and culturally what it means to be Black. This is manifested in several cultural movements, such as “Olodum” in the city of Salvador, and through the legalization of African religions—Candomblé in the Northeast and Umbanda in São Paulo.¹ On the other hand, contemporary Brazilian narrative, written by white and Afro-Brazilian authors, is engaged in the process of rewriting their literary traditions and images of Blacks in order to create a...