Afro-diasporic territories and counter-hegemonic cartographies: Josué de Castro's literature in geo-perspective

Abstract

The pressure for studies on the place and participation of populations of African origin and diaspora in the history of colonized countries, like Brazil, is growing. Considering the challenges of accessing records of the presence of these populations through traditional/canonical historiography, the adoption of literature and the perspective of Critical Cartography (Harley, 1989; Cramptom and Krigier, 2006; Santos, 2011) and Critical Geographic Cartography (CGC) proposed by Girardi (2008) it was fundamental. We present a section of the ongoing master's research in Geography at the Graduate Program in Human Geography at the University of São Paulo (PPGH-USP). Our scope of analysis included Josué de Castro's literary works: Documentário do Nordeste (1959) and Homens e Caranguejos (1967). With them, we were able to build maps of the author's childhood and adolescence in the city of Recife and estimate, from this cartography, the scope, uses and production of a black territoriality by the poor population of the mocambos, portrayed in his works. Santos (2022) helps us understand this reality: race relations are expressed in space, producing temporary and/or permanent territorialities. The results show the relevance of Castro's biography and literature for historical geography, highlighting the potential for broadening geographical analysis by prioritizing these sources. The cartographic reconstruction revealed the probable locations of Afro-diasporic territorialities, the diversity of uses of the city by this population and the importance of social movements in the struggle for the democratization of land ownership and in the production of historically territorialities.