Decolonizing Literature: The Absence of Afro-Brazilians in the Anthropophagic Movement

Abstract

This article analyzes how the Movimento Antropofágico (Anthropophagic Movement), an avant-garde cultural manifestation was conceived by São Paulo's ruling elite and aimed to create a national identity. Inspired by the Indigenous anthropophagic ritual, in which the flesh of the enemy was consumed to acquire their skills, the movement proposed the incorporation and transformation of foreign European culture into national culture. This study is based on the analysis of the Manifesto Antropofágico (the Anthropophagic Manifesto) and the texts published later in the Revista de Antropofagia between May 1928 and February 1929. To theoretically support this work, I use the concepts of postcolonial authors such as Frantz Fanon and Boaventura de Sousa Santos. The objective of the study is to question how the absence of Afro-Brazilians happened and to deconstruct the myth of the attempt to build a Brazilian national culture.