Liberdade ainda que tardia: as memórias do cativeiro elaboradas pelos pretos-velhos em São João Del Rei e Montevidéu, tempo presente

Abstract

This thesis aims to undertake a study of the narratives elaborated on slavery within the Umbanda temples in São João del-Rei (Brazil) and Montevideo (Uruguay). Focused on the analysis of ritual practices, specifically the pretos-velhos (old blacks) ones - a group of spirits directly related to enslavement -, we sought, through the methodology of oral history, to understand a little more about the discourses elaborated on this theme, as well as the messages and values daily transmitted in those sacred spaces. After many years of fieldwork, it was possible to observe the gestures, postures, chants, configurations of spaces and altars and, above all, the elaboration of the mediums' narratives during the rituals in which they declared themselves incorporated by the spirits of pretos-velhos (old blacks). Among the main findings, we highlight the supranational construction of an extremely similar chain of elements present in the speech of mediums who declare themselves incorporated. In general terms, the elaboration of the narrative began with an account of pain and suffering, migrating to resistance strategies, culminating with the presentation of life lessons and values, linked to a more transcendental idea of freedom. In this last moment of the speeches, it was possible to put into dialogue the elaborations of narratives by pretos-velhos (old blacks) and the concept of nonviolent resistance, very present in activists like Gandhi and Martin Luther King. In addition, we found numerous points of contact between the discourses in the temples and more recent productions (in literature, music, and anti-racist movements), mainly based on the interpretation of love and forgiveness as active elements of social transformation.