Afro-Brazilian history and culture in print: surveying the British Library collections (PhD Placement)
Afro-Brazilian history and culture in print: surveying the British Library collections (PhD Placement)
Afro-Brazilian history and culture in print: surveying the British Library collections (PhD Placement)
Afro-Brazilian history and culture is central to our understanding of Brazil and the wider world. Building on the work of Afro-Brazilian activists, Brazilian society has seen a reckoning with the country’s racism and colourism in recent years bringing Afro-Brazilian voices to the fore. The British Library holds extensive collections relating to, and created by Afro-Brazilians, from Brazil, Portugal, as well as material connected to colonial Brazil and the Transatlantic slave trade. Despite this, our understanding of the Library’s holdings of published material in this area requires significant improvement. In the context of these current debates challenging racism and, specifically, a forthcoming UK/Brazil Season of Culture 2025-26, this is a timely project to increase access to important, interconnected, but also underrepresented areas of the Library’s collection. It is envisaged that the placement student would survey the Library’s holdings of published material relating to and created by Afro-Brazilians in order to produce a bibliography / research guide, as well as helping us to recognise gaps in our collection and working with the Latin American curators to identify material which could be acquired to remedy these. The placement student may choose to focus on a specific time period or identify specific themes as part of the survey, for example: • Afro-Brazilian religions • Literary and creative works • Activism (i.e. relating to dictatorship and democratisation in Brazil) • Afro-Brazilian diaspora This placement would represent a significant step in increasing both the visibility and accessibility of this material for researchers and the wider public. In addition, it could feed into future research and engagement activities with the potential to partner with Brazilian institutions and relating to Afro-Brazilian holdings and their links to interconnected histories and cultures in the Americas.
Collection Details