Between education and racist stereotype: a reading of Recordações do escrivão Isaías Caminha, by Lima Barreto

Abstract

Based on the representation of the stigma of miscegenation seen in the novel Recordações do escrivão Isaías Caminha, by Lima Barreto, this paper aims to analyze the stages of the construction of the racist stereotype, related to the formation of the identity of a poor black man, in Brazil in the first decade of the 20th century. Starting from the hypothesis that the experiences of black people are crossed by diverse social impediments, the result obtained by the literary analysis and theoretical readings shows that, underlying the racial prejudice that hinders the possibilities of social mobility, literate and educated black people are not shielded against the violence of institutionalized racism. To deepen the debate, the theoretical framework used addresses important issues related to the theme of blackness and racism, relating the thinking of different authors, such as: bell hooks (2019), Cuti (2010), Lélia Gonzalez (2020), Abdias Nascimento (2017), Neusa Santos Souza (2021), as well as references from the field of literary studies, such as Antonio Candido (2006), João Luiz Lafetá (2004) and Roberto Schwarz (2008).