Human displacements: narratives and representations, Brazil 19th to 21st century

Abstract

This project addresses the multiple interfaces that characterize the mobility of ethnic groups who settled in Brazil and Brazilians who left the country toward other territories. Involving social, cultural, linguistic-discursive, political and economic processes, the range of these flows arouses a strong impact on the lives of these groups and on the affected nations, that does not always leave unharmed of this crossing. Since colonization, comprising slavery, transoceanic and continental migration, past or present flows of different ethnic groups who moved to Brazil take place in a broader and multiform context which embraces values and distinct elements. Such complexity, peculiar to human displacements, shapes this research project, which addresses the various faces of migration under multiple approaches and covers relevant issues to the understanding of our identity formation and of Brazil today. Guided by the ethnic, social and cultural memory preservation of migrations, the project relies on the participation and commitment of specialists in several areas of knowledge who share all sorts of oral, imagistic content and written sources, producing a broad and diverse corpus of documents. The heterogeneous range of research, transiting through history, sociology, anthropology, literature and arts, among other areas, promotes an exchange of experiences, integration of disciplines in the same project and a collective construction of a multi and interdisciplinary approach. (AU)