Unheard Voices: Decolonizing Modernity in Latin America
"Exploring dissident perspectives and dissonant modernities to reshape Latin American narratives."
The dossier 'Latin America as a Place of Enunciation: Dissenting Voices, Dissonant Modernities' marks a significant contribution to academic discourse. It highlights a collaborative effort between the Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo and the Università Cà Foscari of Venice, enhancing the international exchange of ideas among scholars and students. This partnership fosters academic mobility and enriches scholarly perspectives through transcultural studies and recognition, facilitated by the Netir (DGP-CNPq) network.
This collection of studies, facilitated by Civitas, offers invaluable insights by showcasing diverse perspectives that challenge and re-evaluate the imposed narratives of modernity. It brings together an interdisciplinary group of scholars who critically examine the historical and contemporary challenges facing Latin America.
Since the 16th century, Latin America has been reshaped by colonial influences, giving rise to new populations that spent centuries navigating and resisting the imposed constructs of modernity. While a hegemonic representation of inevitability was maintained, subtle yet persistent historical resistances against old and new forms of colonialism emerged, leading to the rise of subjects and discourses that highlighted transitions, displacements, and hybrid identities. This dossier aims to showcase Latin America as a dynamic site of enunciation, where authors fearlessly expand public understanding by sharing Latin American narratives that address global issues from their unique perspectives.
Re-evaluating Modernity Through Dissident Voices
Júlio Pinto and Walter Mignolo initiate the discussion by addressing misrepresentations of Latin America. They challenge the narratives that undermine its peoples and ways of life by positioning them as diametrically opposed to concepts such as 'civilization,' 'development,' 'democracy,' and 'citizenship.' This critique is crucial, especially when academia has historically reinforced these power-laden discourses.
- Challenging the concept of a singular, imposed modernity.
- Recognizing the historical and ongoing resistance to colonial legacies.
- Highlighting the importance of diverse voices in shaping future narratives.
- Promoting decolonial approaches to thought and science.
Toward a More Inclusive Discourse
Chiara Vangelista addresses the silences surrounding indigenous populations in Latin America, examining the dynamics of nation-state construction and identity re-elaborations from the 20th and 21st centuries. She analyzes the role of indigenous peoples in the Brazilian Midwest, challenging prejudiced views that depict tribal societies as incapable of developing their own projects, always seen merely as reactions to conquerors. Transformation now allows a new indigenous participation in society and in the state since 1988, makes it possible to reread the past, observing not only the framing of tribal society in that colonial and successively national context, but also the reverse framing the indigenous perspective.