Do outro lado do Atlântico Sul: negociações identitárias de estudantes de origem africana da UFRN

Abstract

This dissertation is the result of a research conducted through dialogues made possible through videos called with 9 students of african origin, who study or have studied at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, more precisely in the city of Natal. These dialogues were mediated by two semi-structured questionnaires, with the main objective of investigating how these subjects construct and negotiate their identities after their arrival in Brazil. As well as to investigate the effects of these geographic displacements on their self-perception, in social, cultural and subjective terms, outside their countries of origin. The interlocutors of this research come from various countries of the african continent, young people between 21 and 32 years of age who chose Brazil for their professional training, starting or continuing their academic life. I seek to reflect on how the process of perceiving oneself as black in a country marked by almost four hundred years of slavery and structured on the basis of racism: the color of the skin and body features being one of the main marks that lead to exclusions, economic/social inequalities, and, in general, differentiated treatment by society as a whole. Thus, this work seeks to contribute to reflections about the theme of identities, understanding that they are social constructions mediated by tensions and conflicts, which use the resources of history, language, and culture to produce what we become. Without essentializations, but in a strategic and positional manner.