Just beyond the avenue: The sambas-enredo narratives and the constitution of black identities

Abstract

This article discusses the redefi nition of black identities in two sambas of African theme from the carioca carnival. It questions and examines how the discursive process of redefi nition of black identities occurs in the sambas and which effects result from it. Cultural and Ethnic-racial Studies theories and notions from the Discourse Analysis of French line (DA) are used. Qualitative and interpretative methodological instruments are used for understanding the discursiveness in the sambas. Discourses produce displacements of meaning related to the negritude emergence, to the black individual view about himself and his people and to the discussion of the racial democracy myth.

Keywords: black, black identities, sambas-enredos of african theme, samba schools, discursive practices.