“Folias” and “Congadas”: Memory and resistance in the narratives of Brazil’s quilombolas

Abstract

This article analyzes possibilities for resistance that exist in the collective imagination of Brazil’ quilombos—autonomous Afro-Brazilian communities formed by formerly enslaved people who escaped servitude—which are transmitted orally and reflect memories that tell other versions about the past. Considering that the relationship between memory and forgetfulness is a privileged source for historical thinking, the narratives presented here bring a different perspective from that which standard discourses promote. This article explores the cultural traditions of “Folia de Reis” and “Congada,” maintained in Colonia do Paiol, a quilombo community located in the Zona da Mata region, in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The goal is to focus on paths of resistance that can be conceptually framed as epistemologies of the South - understanding the “South” as a field of epistemic challenges attentive to the impacts that colonial expansion generated and perpetuated.