Costuras narrativas: famílias inter-raciais, colonialidade e experiências afetivas

Abstract

This research-stitching was written as a decolonial patchwork thesis, qualitative in nature, and is based on the works of narrative research pioneers. The theoretical and methodological premises employed encompass narrative as both a phenomenon and a research method. As participant-authors in this research, within a specific sociocultural geographic context, it can be said that all participant-authors reside in the southern region of Rio Grande do Sul, in the cities of Canguçu, Pelotas, and Rio Grande, and they form interracial families. They set out to narrate their affective-family experiences, accepting to reflect on how coloniality and its racial structure might be present in their intimate and social relationships. To create the methodological arrangements for this research-stitching, it was necessary to cut fabrics, a stage that encapsulates the experiences lived between participant-authors and the researcher-seamstress. From these experiences, narrative patches emerge, which are records of the narrative experiences that were transcribed, as well as field notes crafted by the researcherseamstress. The weaving of this thesis-quilt is underpinned by the theoretical lining that intersects coloniality, race, critical theories of whiteness, and romantic love. The moment of joining the narrative patches, connecting them with the already hand-sewn theoretical lining, was done by sewing machine. This movement provided meaning to the narrative experiences through an analytical interpretive process of the narrative patches from the participant-authors. From this analysis, twelve concept-threads emerged. However, since not all threads could pass through the sewing machine, at least for now, it was decided, based on their specificities, to compose three other guiding lines for the quilt writing. These three new threads guided the process of composing the meanings of the narrative experiences, which unfolded into intermediate texts and, subsequently, into the research text. Finally, this research-stitching highlights the importance of interracial families critically examining their affective-family experiences, facilitating reflection on how their experiences can influence the processes of racial identity affirmation/negation for Black individuals. This weaving also uncovered the power of transgressive educational processes, those that oppose curricular positivism and structural racism. These processes work toward the proposal of emancipatory education, stitching together everyday school life with critical racial literacy. Between the sewing of patches (front of the piece) and the lining (back of the piece), there are still gaps without patches but with powerful surplus threads, knot ends, and finishing edges. Given the relevance that narrative research-stitching from a decolonial perspective presents for promoting reflections on love, affection, racism, racial literacy, whiteness, among many others, it provides an opportunity for the continuity and deepening of studies in the field, as it contributes with artifacts of narrative research-stitching that can be used for numerous other crafts.