Traces of Afro-descendancy – Jacineide Santos Cintra Silva’s (Uneb) review of the book “Tornar-se Negro: Ou as Vicissitudes da Identidade do Negro Brasileiro em Ascensão Social” by Neusa Santos Souza
Abstract: Tornar-se Negro (Becoming Black), by Neusa Santos Souza, analyzes the identity of black Brazilians on the rise. The work, dense and academic, reveals the emotional and racial challenges faced, offering a critical and enlightening view of the complexities of black identity in Brazil.
Keywords: Black identity, racism, and emotional challenges.
In her work Tornar-se Negro (Becoming Black), Neusa Santos Souza offers a nuanced analysis of the identity of black Brazilians on the rise. The book, which is both dense and academic in nature, illuminates the emotional and racial challenges faced by these individuals, providing a critical and enlightening perspective on the complexities of black identity in Brazil.
The book’s central themes include black identity, racism, and emotional challenges.
Tornar-se Negro: Ou as Vicissitudes da Identidade do Negro Brasileiro em Ascensão Social is Neusa Santos Souza’s book, originally a master’s thesis published in 1983 and re-released by Zahar in 2021. The work is considered a political and intellectual event of the 1980s, as evidenced by the inclusion of a new preface by Maria Lúcia da Silva and the original preface by Jurandir Freire, entitled “Da Cor ao Corpo: a violência do racismo.” The book addresses racism in Brazil and focuses on the emotional construction of blacks on the rise.
Neusa Santos Souza was a Brazilian psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, and writer. She was born in Cachoeira, Bahia, in 1948. She graduated from the Federal University of Bahia with a degree in medicine and subsequently specialized in psychiatry and Lacanian psychoanalysis. She relocated to Rio de Janeiro, where she obtained a Master’s degree in Psychiatry from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. She became an important figure in the fight against racial discrimination. Her dissertation gave rise to the book Tornar-se Negro (Becoming Black), which is considered a landmark in black psychology in Brazil. It consists of case study narratives and life stories of ten characters who define themselves and portray the strategies for social ascension, at an emotional cost of denial, subjection, and erasure of their identities and cultures. The book is divided into six chapters.
In the introduction, the author sets out to construct a discourse among black people about black people, with a particular emphasis on the emotional experience of the quest for social ascension in a white society. She explores the individual trajectories, the challenges, and the emotional cost of this quest, emphasizing the necessity to confront the massacre of black identity and the use of white as a model of identification. The research is based on the author’s own experience and seeks answers that extend beyond academic reflection, encompassing both rational and emotional knowledge.
In the initial chapter, Souza examines the relationship between the social ascension of Black people and the formation of their emotional identity throughout history. During the period of slavery, Black people were subordinated and compelled to adopt white people as a model of identity in order to pursue more favorable social positions. With the abolition of slavery, color/race came to be regarded as a determining factor in social position, and integration into class society occurred through the pursuit of social ascension, which was perceived as an economic, social, and political redemption. However, racial prejudice acted as an obstacle to the rise of blacks, preventing them from attaining a superior social position. There was a division between those who accepted their condition as blacks and those who sought to break the association between blackness and poverty, resulting in the renunciation of their original identity.
In the second chapter, Souza discusses the power and influence of myths in society. A myth is a narrative that naturalizes social relations and creates a reality based on fantasy and illusion. The “black myth” generates the “black problem” and presents itself in three dimensions: by the elements of its composition, by the power to determine the space occupied by Black people as historical objects, and by the challenge imposed on Black people as historical subjects. This imposes identification with difference, inferiorizing and subordinating Black people, perpetuating stereotypes, racism, prejudice, inequality, and subordination.
The third chapter examines the influence of narcissism and the Ego Ideal on the construction of black identity. The white Ego Ideal, imposed by society, leads to the denial of the self and the search for an unattainable model, resulting in depression, the search for a white partner, or political engagement to rebuild an Ego Ideal that represents black values and interests. The healing of this narcissistic wound and the achievement of an empowered identity necessitate the construction of a new Ego Ideal based on political activism and the valuation of black history.
In chapter four, the author presents the testimony of Luísa, a young black doctor from Rio de Janeiro. Luísa’s narrative reflects the experiences of many black women in an unequal and depoliticized society, facing the constant struggle against racism and the lack of opportunities. Luísa’s narrative illuminates the paradoxes and conflicts inherent in a black identity shaped by racism. However, it also illuminates her quest to comprehend her unhappiness and to find her place in the collective struggle of the black movement.
In Chapter Five, Souza presents testimonies from the interviewees, addressing issues such as individual representation, sexual fantasies, body representation, and racial identification. She also explores strategies for social ascension, including overcoming discrimination, accepting harmful stereotypes, and silencing the issue. The author underscores the significance of amplifying personal experiences, which inform the formation of the “I” in a racist society that denies the existence of racism.
In Chapter Six, Souza describes the approach used in her research, which focused on the Rio-São Paulo socio-economic universe in Rio de Janeiro. The research adopted the method of case studies and life story interviews to explore the phenomenon of the social ascension of black people in an urban, capitalist, and racist society. The testimonies were considered representative of a broader context, with Luísa’s story serving as a paradigmatic example. The research was based on the articulation of the Theory of Ideology with Psychoanalysis, with the Oedipus Complex serving as the central theoretical axis.
At the conclusion of her work, Neusa Santos Souza posits that black people in Brazil do not require a black identity to ascend socially. She emphasizes that “being black” involves becoming aware of the ideological process that imprisons black people in an alienated image.
Leticia Gabriella, a law student from the outskirts of São Paulo, is the first generation of her family to enter higher education. At university, she came to recognize her racial identity | Photo: Keiny Andrade/Folhapress
.The construction of a black identity is a political task that requires contestation and the rejection of the imposed model of being a caricature of white people. The impossibility of becoming white creates a narcissistic wound in black people, affecting their self-esteem. This wound results in tension between the ego and the ego ideal, manifesting itself in feelings of guilt, inferiority, phobias, and depression. Souza hopes that his study will contribute to the construction of a new black identity, based on the interests and experiences of black people, transforming individual and collective history.
Becoming Black is a work of extreme relevance to the study of the identity of black Brazilians on the rise. Neusa Santos Souza presents an in-depth and insightful analysis addressing key issues related to the intersectionality of race, gender, and class. The author employs a historical and theoretical approach to support her arguments, presenting concrete examples and real cases that enrich the reader’s understanding. Her writing is dense and sometimes academic, which can make it challenging for readers less familiar with the subject to access the content. Nevertheless, the book offers a critical and enlightening view of the complexities of black identity in a context of social ascension, challenging simplistic conceptions and providing a comprehensive analysis of the vicissitudes faced by black Brazilians.
Summary of Tornar-se negro: ou as vicissitudes da identidade do negro brasileiro em ascensão social
Prefácio — Da Cor ao Corpo: A Violência do Racismo
1. Introdução
2. Antecedentes Históricos da Ascensão Social do Negro Brasileiro — A Construção da Emocionalidade
3. O Mito Negro
4. Narcisismo e Ideal do Ego
5. A História de Luísa
6. Temas Privilegiados
Representações de si
Das estratégias de ascenção
Do preço da ascensão: a contínua prova
8. Conclusão
Posfácio — Digressões Metodológicas de um Colaborador
SANTOS, Neuza. Tornar-se negro: Ou As vicissitudes da identidade do negro brasileiro em ascensão social. São Paulo: Zahar, 2021. 176p. Review by: SILVA, Jacineide Santos Cintra. Traços da afrodescendência. Crítica Historiográfica. Natal, v.4, n.16, Mar/Apr, 2024. Available at <Traços da Afrodescendência — Resenha de Jacineide Santos Cintra Silva (Uneb) sobre o livro <Traces of Afro-descendancy – Jacineide Santos Cintra Silva’s (Uneb) review of the book “Tornar-se Negro: Ou as Vicissitudes da Identidade do Negro Brasileiro em Ascensão Social” by Neusa Santos Souza – Crítica Historiografica (criticahistoriografica.com.br)>.
Traces of Afro-descendancy – Jacineide Santos Cintra Silva’s (Uneb) review of the book “Tornar-se Negro: Ou as Vicissitudes da Identidade do Negro Brasileiro em Ascensão Social” by Neusa Santos Souza
Abstract: Tornar-se Negro (Becoming Black), by Neusa Santos Souza, analyzes the identity of black Brazilians on the rise. The work, dense and academic, reveals the emotional and racial challenges faced, offering a critical and enlightening view of the complexities of black identity in Brazil.
Keywords: Black identity, racism, and emotional challenges.
In her work Tornar-se Negro (Becoming Black), Neusa Santos Souza offers a nuanced analysis of the identity of black Brazilians on the rise. The book, which is both dense and academic in nature, illuminates the emotional and racial challenges faced by these individuals, providing a critical and enlightening perspective on the complexities of black identity in Brazil.
The book’s central themes include black identity, racism, and emotional challenges.
Tornar-se Negro: Ou as Vicissitudes da Identidade do Negro Brasileiro em Ascensão Social is Neusa Santos Souza’s book, originally a master’s thesis published in 1983 and re-released by Zahar in 2021. The work is considered a political and intellectual event of the 1980s, as evidenced by the inclusion of a new preface by Maria Lúcia da Silva and the original preface by Jurandir Freire, entitled “Da Cor ao Corpo: a violência do racismo.” The book addresses racism in Brazil and focuses on the emotional construction of blacks on the rise.
Neusa Santos Souza was a Brazilian psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, and writer. She was born in Cachoeira, Bahia, in 1948. She graduated from the Federal University of Bahia with a degree in medicine and subsequently specialized in psychiatry and Lacanian psychoanalysis. She relocated to Rio de Janeiro, where she obtained a Master’s degree in Psychiatry from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. She became an important figure in the fight against racial discrimination. Her dissertation gave rise to the book Tornar-se Negro (Becoming Black), which is considered a landmark in black psychology in Brazil. It consists of case study narratives and life stories of ten characters who define themselves and portray the strategies for social ascension, at an emotional cost of denial, subjection, and erasure of their identities and cultures. The book is divided into six chapters.
In the introduction, the author sets out to construct a discourse among black people about black people, with a particular emphasis on the emotional experience of the quest for social ascension in a white society. She explores the individual trajectories, the challenges, and the emotional cost of this quest, emphasizing the necessity to confront the massacre of black identity and the use of white as a model of identification. The research is based on the author’s own experience and seeks answers that extend beyond academic reflection, encompassing both rational and emotional knowledge.
In the initial chapter, Souza examines the relationship between the social ascension of Black people and the formation of their emotional identity throughout history. During the period of slavery, Black people were subordinated and compelled to adopt white people as a model of identity in order to pursue more favorable social positions. With the abolition of slavery, color/race came to be regarded as a determining factor in social position, and integration into class society occurred through the pursuit of social ascension, which was perceived as an economic, social, and political redemption. However, racial prejudice acted as an obstacle to the rise of blacks, preventing them from attaining a superior social position. There was a division between those who accepted their condition as blacks and those who sought to break the association between blackness and poverty, resulting in the renunciation of their original identity.
In the second chapter, Souza discusses the power and influence of myths in society. A myth is a narrative that naturalizes social relations and creates a reality based on fantasy and illusion. The “black myth” generates the “black problem” and presents itself in three dimensions: by the elements of its composition, by the power to determine the space occupied by Black people as historical objects, and by the challenge imposed on Black people as historical subjects. This imposes identification with difference, inferiorizing and subordinating Black people, perpetuating stereotypes, racism, prejudice, inequality, and subordination.
The third chapter examines the influence of narcissism and the Ego Ideal on the construction of black identity. The white Ego Ideal, imposed by society, leads to the denial of the self and the search for an unattainable model, resulting in depression, the search for a white partner, or political engagement to rebuild an Ego Ideal that represents black values and interests. The healing of this narcissistic wound and the achievement of an empowered identity necessitate the construction of a new Ego Ideal based on political activism and the valuation of black history.
In chapter four, the author presents the testimony of Luísa, a young black doctor from Rio de Janeiro. Luísa’s narrative reflects the experiences of many black women in an unequal and depoliticized society, facing the constant struggle against racism and the lack of opportunities. Luísa’s narrative illuminates the paradoxes and conflicts inherent in a black identity shaped by racism. However, it also illuminates her quest to comprehend her unhappiness and to find her place in the collective struggle of the black movement.
In Chapter Five, Souza presents testimonies from the interviewees, addressing issues such as individual representation, sexual fantasies, body representation, and racial identification. She also explores strategies for social ascension, including overcoming discrimination, accepting harmful stereotypes, and silencing the issue. The author underscores the significance of amplifying personal experiences, which inform the formation of the “I” in a racist society that denies the existence of racism.
In Chapter Six, Souza describes the approach used in her research, which focused on the Rio-São Paulo socio-economic universe in Rio de Janeiro. The research adopted the method of case studies and life story interviews to explore the phenomenon of the social ascension of black people in an urban, capitalist, and racist society. The testimonies were considered representative of a broader context, with Luísa’s story serving as a paradigmatic example. The research was based on the articulation of the Theory of Ideology with Psychoanalysis, with the Oedipus Complex serving as the central theoretical axis.
At the conclusion of her work, Neusa Santos Souza posits that black people in Brazil do not require a black identity to ascend socially. She emphasizes that “being black” involves becoming aware of the ideological process that imprisons black people in an alienated image.
Leticia Gabriella, a law student from the outskirts of São Paulo, is the first generation of her family to enter higher education. At university, she came to recognize her racial identity | Photo: Keiny Andrade/Folhapress
.The construction of a black identity is a political task that requires contestation and the rejection of the imposed model of being a caricature of white people. The impossibility of becoming white creates a narcissistic wound in black people, affecting their self-esteem. This wound results in tension between the ego and the ego ideal, manifesting itself in feelings of guilt, inferiority, phobias, and depression. Souza hopes that his study will contribute to the construction of a new black identity, based on the interests and experiences of black people, transforming individual and collective history.
Becoming Black is a work of extreme relevance to the study of the identity of black Brazilians on the rise. Neusa Santos Souza presents an in-depth and insightful analysis addressing key issues related to the intersectionality of race, gender, and class. The author employs a historical and theoretical approach to support her arguments, presenting concrete examples and real cases that enrich the reader’s understanding. Her writing is dense and sometimes academic, which can make it challenging for readers less familiar with the subject to access the content. Nevertheless, the book offers a critical and enlightening view of the complexities of black identity in a context of social ascension, challenging simplistic conceptions and providing a comprehensive analysis of the vicissitudes faced by black Brazilians.
Summary of Tornar-se negro: ou as vicissitudes da identidade do negro brasileiro em ascensão social
Prefácio — Da Cor ao Corpo: A Violência do Racismo
1. Introdução
2. Antecedentes Históricos da Ascensão Social do Negro Brasileiro — A Construção da Emocionalidade
3. O Mito Negro
4. Narcisismo e Ideal do Ego
5. A História de Luísa
6. Temas Privilegiados
Representações de si
Das estratégias de ascenção
Do preço da ascensão: a contínua prova
8. Conclusão
Posfácio — Digressões Metodológicas de um Colaborador
SANTOS, Neuza. Tornar-se negro: Ou As vicissitudes da identidade do negro brasileiro em ascensão social. São Paulo: Zahar, 2021. 176p. Review by: SILVA, Jacineide Santos Cintra. Traços da afrodescendência. Crítica Historiográfica. Natal, v.4, n.16, Mar/Apr, 2024. Available at <Traços da Afrodescendência — Resenha de Jacineide Santos Cintra Silva (Uneb) sobre o livro <Traces of Afro-descendancy – Jacineide Santos Cintra Silva’s (Uneb) review of the book “Tornar-se Negro: Ou as Vicissitudes da Identidade do Negro Brasileiro em Ascensão Social” by Neusa Santos Souza – Crítica Historiografica (criticahistoriografica.com.br)>.
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Tornar-se Negro: Ou as Vicissitudes da Identidade do Negro Brasileiro em Ascensão Social is Neusa Santos Souza’s book, originally a master’s thesis published in 1983 and re-released by Zahar in 2021. The work is considered a political and intellectual event of the 1980s, as evidenced by the inclusion of a new preface by Maria Lúcia da Silva and the original preface by Jurandir Freire, entitled “Da Cor ao Corpo: a violência do racismo.” The book addresses racism in Brazil and focuses on the emotional construction of blacks on the rise.
Jacineide Santos Cintra Silva is an elementary school teacher and pedagogical coordinator in the municipality of Ipirá, Bahia, Brazil, and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in the Programa de Pós-graduação em Estus Africanos, Povos indígenas e Culturas Negras da Universidade do Estado da Bahia (PPGEAFIN/Uneb). She has also authored several other works: Afetividade: fator essencial no processo de desenvolvimento de crianças autista e A importância dos vínculos parentais no desenvolvimento de crianças com Síndrome de DOWN. ID LATTES: http://lattes.cnpq.br/9973791348178987. ID ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-0970-678X; Redes sociais: @jacineidecintra; E-mail: jacycintra05@hotmail.com.
