Point of View

Song for Almeyda and Song for Anninho is written from the first-person point of view of both Anninho and Almeyda, a couple who was separated as they fled the Portuguese soldiers, following the destruction of Palmares. “Song for Almeyda” is told through the lens of Anninho, who eluded capture and is living in a quilombo in the hills. “Song for Anninho” is told through the lens of Almeyda, who was captured by Portuguese soldiers. The author chooses to employ the first-person point of view in order to subvert Eurocentric narratives of the Palmares community and bolster her thematic examination of identity. While Eurocentric histories preserve the names, vocations, and lineages of white oppressors, Song for Almeyda and Song for Anninho recenters the narrative on the Black experience. By granting the reader access to the inner thoughts and emotions of the protagonist, Jones develops an intimacy...