Date of Award

2016

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Hicks, Barbara

Keywords

Brazil, Bahia, Afro-Brazilians, Culture, Identity

Area of Concentration

International and Area Studies

Abstract

Afro-Brazilian identity and its role in Brazilian national identity have been negotiated and renegotiated since the Portuguese first began to enslave African peoples in 1550. Yet in the most economically marginalized region in Brazil, Afro-Brazilian culture is exalted as a major influence on regional identity and, in some ways, development. One of the ways in which Afro-Brazilian identity in the Northeast shapes regional identity and development is through the ethnic tourism industry. The examination of ethnic tourism policies within this marginalized state can point to how Brazil is consolidating Afro-Brazilian identity in their burgeoning democratic nation. Nowhere is state-sponsored Afro-Brazilian ethnic tourism more prevalent than in the Northeastern state of Bahia, a state constructed as an important location within the African Diaspora for its “preserved” and “authentic” Afro-Brazilian traditions. At the same time, the state promotes brasilidade, an ideology that celebrates the state’s multiculturality but denies ethno-racial inequalities. This study seeks to understand how Brazil is incorporating Afro-Brazilians within nation-hood through an examination of the ethnic tourism industry within Bahia. This study relies on Brazilian primary sources (mostly in Portuguese) to understand the impact of ethnic tourism on Afro-Brazilian identity. Through an exploration of the role of Afro-Brazilian identity in the development of the Northeast from the early 1900s to today and an analysis of Bahian ethnic tourism programming, this study explains how Afro-Brazilian ethnic tourism can raise the agency of Afro-Brazilians, valorize Afro-Brazilian culture, and create jobs. However, this thesis also shows the consequences of ethnic tourism, including the homogenization and commodification of Afro-Brazilian cultures. Ethnic tourism is promoted by Bahian officials as a tool for valorizing Afro-Brazilian culture within Brazil and the African diaspora, yet it remains to be seen whether ethnic tourism will alleviate poverty and discrimination for Afro-Brazilians.

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