Rearticulating sociological narratives: Brazilian social theory, African diaspora and disracialization of the black experience

摘要

In this article I present results of the research “Brazilian sociology and diasporic stu-dies”, in which I analyze some approaches of Brazilian sociology in the theme of ethnic-racial relations and their points of convergence with the transnational debate on the African diaspora and postcolonial criticism. The central objective of this article is to understand the proximity between Brazilian social thought and postcolonial criticism through the selection of some Brazilian texts and to what extent this relationship allows us to revisit what has become known as “Sociology of race relations” in the Brazil. The article is structured through two general aspects, namely: a. the different understandings by some authors of Brazilian sociology on modernity and the national ethos, and how postcolonial criticism stresses the general bases of understanding of the Brazilian society; b. the revision of the classical notions of resistance and politics, through the aesthetics and cultural expressions of the diaspora. From our point of view, these aspects help us to understand the historical processes that racialized the black experience in Brazil, and point out some analytical limits on the part of Brazilian sociological interpretation of our social formation.