A perseverança e o silêncio: ensaio sobre a disjunção nas narrativas sobre religiões afro-brasileiras em Maceió

Abstract

The record of Afro-Brazilian religions in the city of Maceió has contextualized them as an experience of silence during much of the 20th century as a direct result of the event called Quebra de 1912 (Break of 1912). This essay stems from its author’s estrangement. He critically analyzes the intellectual production on the subject, assembles documentary records, and demonstrates the unsustainability of this context. Since the contribution by Alfredo Brandão and a certain local intellectual current stemming from it, the representation of the African-derived religious experience in Alagoas has drawn on vulnerable allegations, the absence of data, and outdated scientific theories, as well as the interest in delegitimizing the insistently present and dynamic tactics of this experience. This investigation finally presents an eloquent Afro-religious agency and a wide range of tactics that allowed their existence and circulation in the public space throughout the period under review.