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Darién J . Davis

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I am a dedicated scholar and teacher who wants to help create vibrant and respectful spaces for intellectual growth and exchange. My scholarship has focused on the history of Brazil, the Caribbean, and on black and Latin American migrations in the Atlantic world. My recent work and teaching centers on dialogues and exchanges among people of African descent in North and South America, Europe, the Caribbean, and Africa. I believe in contributing to the betterment of the communities where I live and work, as well as globally when possible.

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Sebastiaan Faber

Oberlin College

J. Cameron Monroe

University of California, Santa Cruz

Francesco Ragazzi

Universiteit Leiden

Clare A. A Sammells

Bucknell University

Marcelo I . Saguier

Universidad Nacional de San Martin

Nina Glick Schiller

The University of Manchester

Franco Barchiesi

Ohio State University

Gérard L. F. Chouin

College of William and Mary

Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru

Melisa Deciancio

FLACSO-Argentina

Interests

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Papers by Darién J . Davis

Before We Call this Place Home

Becoming Brazuca, 2008

From 2008 Harvard publication Becoming Brazuca. Studies the precursores of the Brazilian communi... more

Migraciones, mezclas y poder en el Caribe. Apuntes transnacionales para entender el multiculturalismo poscolonial

Procesos Históricos. Revista de Historia,, 41

Resumen Este artículo ofrece un análisis del Caribe como un espacio geográfico multicultural cent... more Resumen Este artículo ofrece un análisis del Caribe como un espacio geográfico multicultural centrado entre América del Norte y del Sur. Utiliza estudios del Caribe español (Puerto Rico), el Caribe inglés (Trinidad y Tobago) y el Caribe francés (Martinica) para ilustrar cómo y por qué la región constituye un espacio que es de facto multicultural. El colonialismo, los flujos migratorios, la explotación y el anhelo de libertad unieron una cacofonía de pueblos para crear un Caribe poscolonial, posmoderno y multicultural. Este desarrollo histórico debe distinguirse de la retórica y la política del multiculturalismo que emergió de Occidente en la década de 1960.

Brazilian-Americans

Latino Review of Books, 1997

This is one of the early articles that look at Brazilian migration to the United States, when th... more This is one of the early articles that look at Brazilian migration to the United States, when the field of study was just beginning. One of the questions that was central to our investigation was the relationship of Brazilians to other Latin American migrant groups. The research in this field has evolved as vibrant communities have developed throughout the United States.

“British Football with a Brazilian Beat: Race and The Early History of a National Past time, 1894-1933

English-Speaking Communities in Latin America. Macmillan Press and St. Martin’s Press, 2000, 261-284., 2000

This is a revision of a pre-copy edited version of a 2000 essay on the transformation of footbal... more

2001: “Racial Parity and Nacional Humor: Exploring Brazilian Samba from Noel Rosa to Carmen Miranda, 1930-1939,”

Popular Culture in Latin America: An Introduction. Wilmington, Delaware: Scholarly Resources, 2001, 183-200. , 2001

Desi Arnaz and Blackness

Blog entry: https://musicandhistoryintheatlantic.wordpress.com/cultural-production/music/desi-arn... more

"Music and Film in the Caribbean: Highlights from Cuba and Beyond, 1960-2000"

A short essay on blog that is (as of Spring 2021) still in development.

Beyond Representation: Rethinking Rights, Alliances and Migrations: Three Historical Themes in Afro-Latin American Political Engagement

Comparative Racial Politics in Latin America, 2018

Understanding the Black Modernists: The Legacy of Negritude and Celebration of Blackness in Brazil

Afro-Brazilian Women, Civil Right and Political Participation

Slavery and Beyond, 1994

In this short essay based on research and interviews from the early 1990s, I share ideas about Af... more In this short essay based on research and interviews from the early 1990s, I share ideas about Afro-Brazilian women's participation in Brazilian politics and struggles for 'civil rights,' a complicated term since for much of the second half of the twentieth century Brazil did not have a democratic constitution. I comment on the impact of women such as Ruth De Souza, Lélia Gonzalez and Benedita da Silva in diverse political spheres. I was fortunate to spend time with Ruth de Souza. My interview with de Souza appears on p. 257-259 (Saravá Dona Ruth).

Fading In: Race and the Representation of People of African Descent in Latin American Cinema

Beyond Slavery, 2007

This article is a review of the role of African-descendants in Latin American Cinema up until t... more

Buena Vista Social Club

The American Historical Review, 2000

... Al regresar a Cuba con su hijo Joachim en 1997 para trabajar en su proyecto discogr?fico, se ... more

Mulato vs Criollo

Afro-Brazilian Women Civil Rights and Political Participation

Beyond Slavery, 1996

Três filmes na procura de um pais

Revista Fronteiras, 2003

Nationalism and Civil Rights in Cuba: A Comparative Perspective

The Journal of Negro History , 1998

PanAfricanism, Negritude, and the Currency of Blackness

PanAfricanism, Negritude, and the Currency of Blackness, 2010

From Oppressive to Benign: A Comparative History of the Construction of Whiteness in Brazil in the Post Abolition Era (UC Merced TRANSMODERNITY: Journal of Peripheral Cultural Production of the Luso-Hispanic World Title)

This essay deconstructs the ways in which Brazilian patriotic intellectuals transformed the oppre... more This essay deconstructs the ways in which Brazilian patriotic intellectuals transformed the oppressive whiteness of the Portuguese colonial project to what I call "benign whiteness." After providing a brief history of the development of whiteness and hybridity in Latin America, I highlight patriotism and racism in thinkers such as Cuban José Martí, Uruguayan Enrique Rodó, and Brazilian Euclides da Cunha. After World War I, Brazilian cultural elites, along with the bourgeois state, promoted and institutionalized cultural hybridity as a unique trait that bound Brazilians together in a superior way to the United States. The patriotic trope of hybridity masked white privilege while benign whiteness stymied racial solidarity even as it continued to marginalize non-white populations. I show how whites and many almost whites along with foreign intellectuals, helped propagate the idea of Brazilian benign whiteness, an ideology that continues to impact Latin Americans today.

Três filmes na procura dum pais

EDITING by Darién J . Davis

Issue De Whiteness a blanquitud y branquitude. From Whiteness to Blanquitud and Branquitude. Hispanic and Lusophone Whiteness Studies (HLWS) [Vol. 1, Issue 2020.]

by JM. Persánch, Darién J . Davis, and Lourenço da Conceição Cardoso

#PUBLICACIÓN - #PUBLICATION - #PUBLICAÇÃO The Journal of Hispanic and Lusophone Whiteness Studie... more #PUBLICACIÓN - #PUBLICATION - #PUBLICAÇÃO

The Journal of Hispanic and Lusophone Whiteness Studies (HLWS), Vol. I, Issue 2020.

(Preámbulo) De Whiteness a Blanquitud y Branquitude - (Preface) From Whiteness To Blanquitud And Branquitude.
by JM. Persánch.

Neither Your Hispanic Nor Your White: Transitioning Between Whitenesses From Spain To The United States.
by JM. Persánch.

De opresivo a benigno: Historia comparada de la construcción de la blancura en Brasil en la época de la post-abolición.
by Darién Davis. (Trad. Felicity E. Flynn, JM. Persánch et. al.)

Unspoken Whiteness: # Whitexicans And Religious Conservativism in Mexico.
by Ricardo J. Alvarez-Pimentel.

¿Escuchas el susurro? Tras las huellas de la llorona blanca en J-ok'el.
by María Teresa Grazón Martínez.

Branquitude e Justiça: Un análise sociológica atraves de uma fonte jurídica; Documento técnico ou talvez político?
by Lourenço Cardoso.

Before We Call this Place Home

Becoming Brazuca, 2008

From 2008 Harvard publication Becoming Brazuca. Studies the precursores of the Brazilian communi... more

Migraciones, mezclas y poder en el Caribe. Apuntes transnacionales para entender el multiculturalismo poscolonial

Procesos Históricos. Revista de Historia,, 41

Resumen Este artículo ofrece un análisis del Caribe como un espacio geográfico multicultural cent... more Resumen Este artículo ofrece un análisis del Caribe como un espacio geográfico multicultural centrado entre América del Norte y del Sur. Utiliza estudios del Caribe español (Puerto Rico), el Caribe inglés (Trinidad y Tobago) y el Caribe francés (Martinica) para ilustrar cómo y por qué la región constituye un espacio que es de facto multicultural. El colonialismo, los flujos migratorios, la explotación y el anhelo de libertad unieron una cacofonía de pueblos para crear un Caribe poscolonial, posmoderno y multicultural. Este desarrollo histórico debe distinguirse de la retórica y la política del multiculturalismo que emergió de Occidente en la década de 1960.

Brazilian-Americans

Latino Review of Books, 1997

This is one of the early articles that look at Brazilian migration to the United States, when th... more This is one of the early articles that look at Brazilian migration to the United States, when the field of study was just beginning. One of the questions that was central to our investigation was the relationship of Brazilians to other Latin American migrant groups. The research in this field has evolved as vibrant communities have developed throughout the United States.

“British Football with a Brazilian Beat: Race and The Early History of a National Past time, 1894-1933

English-Speaking Communities in Latin America. Macmillan Press and St. Martin’s Press, 2000, 261-284., 2000

This is a revision of a pre-copy edited version of a 2000 essay on the transformation of footbal... more

2001: “Racial Parity and Nacional Humor: Exploring Brazilian Samba from Noel Rosa to Carmen Miranda, 1930-1939,”

Popular Culture in Latin America: An Introduction. Wilmington, Delaware: Scholarly Resources, 2001, 183-200. , 2001

Desi Arnaz and Blackness

Blog entry: https://musicandhistoryintheatlantic.wordpress.com/cultural-production/music/desi-arn... more

"Music and Film in the Caribbean: Highlights from Cuba and Beyond, 1960-2000"

A short essay on blog that is (as of Spring 2021) still in development.

Beyond Representation: Rethinking Rights, Alliances and Migrations: Three Historical Themes in Afro-Latin American Political Engagement

Comparative Racial Politics in Latin America, 2018

Understanding the Black Modernists: The Legacy of Negritude and Celebration of Blackness in Brazil

Afro-Brazilian Women, Civil Right and Political Participation

Slavery and Beyond, 1994

In this short essay based on research and interviews from the early 1990s, I share ideas about Af... more In this short essay based on research and interviews from the early 1990s, I share ideas about Afro-Brazilian women's participation in Brazilian politics and struggles for 'civil rights,' a complicated term since for much of the second half of the twentieth century Brazil did not have a democratic constitution. I comment on the impact of women such as Ruth De Souza, Lélia Gonzalez and Benedita da Silva in diverse political spheres. I was fortunate to spend time with Ruth de Souza. My interview with de Souza appears on p. 257-259 (Saravá Dona Ruth).

Fading In: Race and the Representation of People of African Descent in Latin American Cinema

Beyond Slavery, 2007

This article is a review of the role of African-descendants in Latin American Cinema up until t... more

Buena Vista Social Club

The American Historical Review, 2000

... Al regresar a Cuba con su hijo Joachim en 1997 para trabajar en su proyecto discogr?fico, se ... more

Mulato vs Criollo

Afro-Brazilian Women Civil Rights and Political Participation

Beyond Slavery, 1996

Três filmes na procura de um pais

Revista Fronteiras, 2003

Nationalism and Civil Rights in Cuba: A Comparative Perspective

The Journal of Negro History , 1998

PanAfricanism, Negritude, and the Currency of Blackness

PanAfricanism, Negritude, and the Currency of Blackness, 2010

From Oppressive to Benign: A Comparative History of the Construction of Whiteness in Brazil in the Post Abolition Era (UC Merced TRANSMODERNITY: Journal of Peripheral Cultural Production of the Luso-Hispanic World Title)

This essay deconstructs the ways in which Brazilian patriotic intellectuals transformed the oppre... more This essay deconstructs the ways in which Brazilian patriotic intellectuals transformed the oppressive whiteness of the Portuguese colonial project to what I call "benign whiteness." After providing a brief history of the development of whiteness and hybridity in Latin America, I highlight patriotism and racism in thinkers such as Cuban José Martí, Uruguayan Enrique Rodó, and Brazilian Euclides da Cunha. After World War I, Brazilian cultural elites, along with the bourgeois state, promoted and institutionalized cultural hybridity as a unique trait that bound Brazilians together in a superior way to the United States. The patriotic trope of hybridity masked white privilege while benign whiteness stymied racial solidarity even as it continued to marginalize non-white populations. I show how whites and many almost whites along with foreign intellectuals, helped propagate the idea of Brazilian benign whiteness, an ideology that continues to impact Latin Americans today.

Três filmes na procura dum pais

Issue De Whiteness a blanquitud y branquitude. From Whiteness to Blanquitud and Branquitude. Hispanic and Lusophone Whiteness Studies (HLWS) [Vol. 1, Issue 2020.]

by JM. Persánch, Darién J . Davis, and Lourenço da Conceição Cardoso

#PUBLICACIÓN - #PUBLICATION - #PUBLICAÇÃO The Journal of Hispanic and Lusophone Whiteness Studie... more #PUBLICACIÓN - #PUBLICATION - #PUBLICAÇÃO

The Journal of Hispanic and Lusophone Whiteness Studies (HLWS), Vol. I, Issue 2020.

(Preámbulo) De Whiteness a Blanquitud y Branquitude - (Preface) From Whiteness To Blanquitud And Branquitude.
by JM. Persánch.

Neither Your Hispanic Nor Your White: Transitioning Between Whitenesses From Spain To The United States.
by JM. Persánch.

De opresivo a benigno: Historia comparada de la construcción de la blancura en Brasil en la época de la post-abolición.
by Darién Davis. (Trad. Felicity E. Flynn, JM. Persánch et. al.)

Unspoken Whiteness: # Whitexicans And Religious Conservativism in Mexico.
by Ricardo J. Alvarez-Pimentel.

¿Escuchas el susurro? Tras las huellas de la llorona blanca en J-ok'el.
by María Teresa Grazón Martínez.

Branquitude e Justiça: Un análise sociológica atraves de uma fonte jurídica; Documento técnico ou talvez político?
by Lourenço Cardoso.

"Transnational Blackness": The Female Body and the Early Globalization of Brazilian Popular Music"

https://cilam.ucr.edu/diagonal/issues/2010/05TransnationalBlackness.pdf, 2010

This paper was presented at a conference at University of California. Riverside- and published on... more

Introduction Beyond Slavery

Beyond Slavery, 2007

Introduction to the edited volume on the legacy of African descendants in the Americas

Introduction from Companion to US Latino Literatures

Companion to US Latino Literatures, 2007

This is the introduction to an edited volume. This volume, documenting the linguistic and cultura... more This is the introduction to an edited volume. This volume, documenting the linguistic and cultural diversity of Latino literary output in the United States, offers an exciting introduction for non-specialist readers. Unique in its scope and perspective, it focuses on various literary genres, and cinema, related to Latinos. Each essay considers not only Latino writers who were born or raised in the United States, but also Latin American writers who took up residence in the United States but may also be considered part of the literary scene of their countries of origin. Rather than follow one specific mode of organization and presentation, each contributor has offered his or her original perspective on the subject matter or theme. The result is an inclusive spectrum of the voices of the U.S. Latin American diaspora, illuminating the rich and complex culture of Latinos. EDITORS: Carlota Caulfield is Professor of Spanish and Spanish-American Studies at Mills College, California. Darién J. Davis. CONTRIBUTORS: Eva Bueno, Carlota Caulfield, Elizabeth Coonrod Martínez, Darién J. Davis, Jorge Febles, Lydia Gil, Armando González-Pérez, Patricia M. Montilla, Vincent Spina, Antonio Tosta, Sergio Waisman.

Understanding Stefan Zweig

a website dedicated to Stefan Zweig- based on the publication Stefan and Lotte Zweig's South Amer... more