Afoxés: Manifestação cultural baiana ou pernambucana? Narrativas para uma história social dos Afoxés

Abstract

Non-existent in the streets of Olinda or Recife in the 1970’s, the “afoxés” are today an important presence in the events promoted by the Black Movement and in Pernambuco’s “Carnaval”. Gradually they have occupied a clear space in the society and they constitute more than sixty groups that carry out activities annually. Still today, however, they are questioned by sectors of the intellectuality for its "bahian origin". Such argument looks for to take the legitimacy from “afoxé” as a cultural manifestation allowed to attention and resources from the public power. But where do the “afoxés” really come from? Who are the people who make them and where do they act? This work will discuss the history of afoxés in Pernambuco between the 1980’s and 2000. It will also discuss the historiography and the interpretations that the black movements had build about it.