Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dlnhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T18:57:39.172Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 13 - The Boundless Dramas of Dancing Mulatas

from Part III - Mobilities

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 November 2022

Mónica Szurmuk
Affiliation:
Universidad Nacional de San Martín and National Scientific and Technical Research Council, Argentina
Debra A. Castillo
Affiliation:
Cornell University, New York
Get access

Summary

When Mônica Santana’s solo performance Isto Não É Uma Mulata (2015) premiered at Casa Escafandro in Salvador Bahia, the poet/playwright/performer led her audience through a multilingual interrogation of the mulata trope, denouncing Brazil’s literary canon and founding narratives of mestiçagem while claiming agency over the terms of how and when the mulata’s body would be put to work. Calling on a trans-hemispheric sisterhood of feminist icons of the Black diaspora from Queen Latifah to MC Carol, Santana’s Isto Não É Uma Mulata exemplifies the type of cultural nation-making that is forged in the shared consciousness of the Black Atlantic. This essay opens Santana’s play to a comparative reading of sex-radical feminist performances enacted by mulatas of popular music and culture, examining the political openings that are seized when Black women work their bodies in the interest of protest. Santana performs in tune with artists such as Brazil’s infamous funkeira MC Carol, manipulating her spectator’s disdain for satirical crudeness and boundless sexuality in order to infuse pointed social commentary with tracks such as “Não Foi Cabral” and her collaborative manifesto with Karol Conká, “100% Feminista.”

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Works Cited

Benevenuto, Assis, Alexandre, Marcos, and (Dramatist) Souza, Vinícius. Teatro Negro. 1st ed. Belo Horizonte: Editora Javali, 2018.Google Scholar
Carneiro, Sueli. “Enegrecer o Feminismo: A Situação da Mulher Negra na América Latina a Partir de Uma Perspectiva de Gênero.” Universidade de São Paulo. e-Disciplinas. Web. November 18, 2019. https://www.patriciamagno.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/CARNEIRO-2013-Enegrecer-o-feminismo.pdf.Google Scholar
Davis, Angela. “Black feminisms across the Americas: A tribute to political activist Marielle Franco.” Princeton University. Brazil Lab. March 14, 2018. Web. November 16, 2019. https://brazillab.princeton.edu/events/black-feminisms-across-americas-tribute-political-activist-marielle-francoGoogle Scholar
Freyre, Gilberto and Putnam, Samuel. The Masters and the Slaves (Casa-grande and Senzala): A Study in the Development of Brazilian Civilization. New York: Knopf, 1946.Google Scholar
Lawson, Michael. “MC Carol: The first lady of the favelas.” The Skinny: Independent Cultural Journalism. March 18, 2018. Web. November 16, 2019. https://www.theskinny.co.uk/music/interviews/mc-carol-the-first-lady-of-the-favelas.Google Scholar
Lima, Eugênio and Ludemir, Julio. Dramaturgia Negra. São Paulo: Funarte, 2018.Google Scholar
Madison, Soyini. “Foreword.” Solo/Black/Woman: Scripts, Interviews, and Essays. Patrick Johnson, Eds. E. and Rivera-Severa, Ramón H. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 2014.Google Scholar
Nascimento, Abdias do. Brazil, Mixture or Massacre? Essays on the Genocide of a Black People. 2nd ed. Dover: The Majority Press, 1979.Google Scholar
Nascimento, Abdias do Dramas Para Negros E Prólogo Para Brancos: Antologia De Teatro Negro-Brasileiro. Rio de Janeiro: Edicão de Teatro Experimental de Negro, 1961.Google Scholar
Torczyner, Harry. Magritte: Ideas and Images. New York: H.N. Abrams, 1977.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×