The poetry of black slam female authors: writing and living

Abstract

On the disputed territory of Brazilian literature (Dalcastagnè, 2012), what is the place occupied by slam poetry? Moreover, in this possible space, what is the position of black and female authorship? Addressing these questions implies considering a cultural scenario that is organized outside the national literary field; therefore, it means dealing with issues related to power relations inherent in a historically unequal society, as is the Brazilian one, and the role that poetic production can play in this context. Based on these questions, the general objective of this article is to reflect on the slam poetry produced in Brazil by black female authors in the context of contemporary Brazilian literature and on the impact of these poems as texts capable of problematizing the literary criticism scenario, besides presenting the reading and analysis of Tawane Theodoro (2019b)'s slam poetry “O peso das palavras”, in the light of this debate.

Keywords:
slam poetry; Brazilian slam poetry; black women's literature; contemporary Brazilian poetry