Processes of desubjectivation of Marabaixo’s black subjects

Abstract

In this work, the aim was to demonstrate the processes of desubjectivation of black Amazonian subjects in events involving power exercises from the period called Vargas Era. These cases involved the black subjects of Marabaixo from Macapá, in Amapá State, Brazil. The Marabaixo is, nowadays, the largest set of Afro-American religious and festive practices in devotion to the saints of the Catholic Church. Discursive analysis of the Foucault’s perspective was used as a theoretical reference, and the conceptual terms of desubjectivation (FOUCAULT, 2010; DELEUZE, 1988; AGAMBEN, 2005; MILANEZ, 2013), event and power (FOUCAULT, 2015a, 2013, 2005) applied to various discursive materialities, such as scientific texts, television reports, popular songs and images were mobilized. The study indicated the development of desubjectivation occurred due to an exercise of power by the forces of the state and also the church. This resulted, however, in resistance by the black Amazonian subjects.