Dr Fernando Nina is an interim professor at the Department of Ibero-American Cultural Studies at the University of Heidelberg. His main research interests and foci include cultural phenomena of Latin America from the 17th to the 20th centuries, cultural theory, theories of decolonization and the subaltern, and the cultural philosophy of Latin America. Besides long-term teaching assignments in Mainz, Munich, and Utrecht, he has been a guest lecturer in Spain, Ecuador, Chile, Colombia, and Brazil.
Project: Imaginaries beyond the Edge: Envisioning the Concepts of Escrevivência by Conceição Evaristo and Lugar de Fala by Djamila Ribeiro as Decolonial Perspectives on Conviviality
Abstract:
This research project will analyse the work of Afro-Brazilian author Conceição Evaristo (*1946). Evaristo was born in Pindura Saia, a slum in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais. Her mother had no education but collected notebooks she found on the streets and filled them with her texts about life, thoughts, and poems. Her mother was certainly a great influence on Conceição. She usually says that, because of her mother’s habit, she grew up surrounded by words, even if she didn’t grow up surrounded by books. Evaristo’s fiction deals with the silencing of marginalized voices, and visualises with a specific poetical sensibility the histories of Black women living in impoverished conditions, contesting the desire of Brazilian hegemonic petty bourgeoise society to erase or ignore the strong presence of African people and their descendants in the national formation. She coined the term escrevivência to describe her way of writing. Escrevivência means “to tell our stories from our perspectives”. The neologism is compounded by escrita (writing) and vivência (living), as in experience. Evaristo’s literature is the most particular and innovative new form of representation of Afrobrasilidade in contemporary everyday life, that offers a complex vision of a world that (re)cognizes and starts from a multiplicity of voices. Within that framework, this research will focus on her themes of the body, procreation, reproduction, slavery, and desire.
Main discipline: Cultural Studies