Cumbe (2014), de Marcelo D’Salete: (de)colonialidade e perspectivas afrodiaspóricas

Abstract

This research is dedicated to the analysis of the Graphic Novel Cumbe (2014) by Marcelo D’Salete (1979), through the lens of decolonial theory and the afrodiasporic perspectives present in the book. Thus, the study draws on the works of Aníbal Quijano (2005), Edgardo Lander (2005), and Nelson Maldonado-Torres (2007) to understand the colonial matrices of power, knowledge, and being. Walter Mignolo (2008; 2017; 2018) and Catherine E. Walsh (2018) contribute to the decolonial thinking and action. Nei Lopes (2011), Stuart Hall (2003), Reginaldo Prandi (2000), as well as João José Reis and Flávio dos Santos Gomes (1996), provide valuable insights into the African diaspora and the formation of quilombos. The discussion on comics and their political character is based on the theories of Will Eisner (1995; 2005) and Moacy Cirne (1982; 1983). This research uses a basic, descriptive methodology, relying on bibliographic and documentary procedures with a qualitative approach. In this sense, the study examines how Cumbe (2014) constitutes resistance to coloniality through the perspectives of enslaved Black people in Brazil, leading to the conclusion that the work provides an authentic voice to the history of Black resistance, highlighting the subversion of the conditions imposed by slavery. Finally, the research reaffirms the potential of Graphic Novels as a mean of questioning power systems and conveying resistance discourses.