Scene and dramaturgy of politics in a black student’s narrative: dealing with dissent

Abstract

In this paper, we intend to analyze a scene narrated by a young black university student concerning the interpersonal connection and communication between a grandmother with her granddaughter. The scene was heard in a research context that sought to identify the ways and means of overcoming, coping with and dealing with the effects of racism within a university institution and in the context of the affirmative action policy in Brazil. Besides, the paper tries to consider inventive ways of interpreting results in qualitative research. Inspired by Rancière’s scene method, the scene narrated and remembered by the young woman depicts her grandmother peeled sugar cane and gave it to her granddaughter to chew. It is a scene that points to important themes regarding the history of the black population in Brazil, while also offering aspects that may challenge hierarchical relations and allow for the emergence of new subjective and social elements.