Across the South Atlantic: Identity Negotiations of Students of African Origin at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte
Identity Negotiations; Students of African Origin; Student Migration; African Diaspora
This dissertation is the result of a research carried out through dialogues made possible through videos called with 9 students of African origin, who study at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, more precisely in the city of Natal. These dialogues were mediated by a semi-structured questionnaire, with the main objective of investigating how the identity constructions and negotiations of these subjects emerge and develop and the effects of this geographical displacement on their social, cultural and subjective self-perceptions outside their countries of origin. The research
interlocutors come from different countries on the African continent, young people between 21 and 31 years of age who chose Brazil to carry out their professional training, starting their academic life. I seek to reflect on how the process of perceiving themselves as black happens in a country marked by almost four hundred years of slavery and which is structured in racism. Skin color and body features are one of the main brands that provide exclusions, economic/social inequalities and, in general, differentiated treatments throughout society. Thus, this work seeks to contribute with reflections on the theme of identities, understanding that they are social constructions mediated by tensions and conflicts, which use resources from history, language and culture to produce what we become