Challenging the Black Atlantic

The historical novels of Manuel Zapata Olivella and Ana Maria Gonalves map black journeys from Africa to the Americas in a way that challenges the Black Atlantic paradigm that has become synonymous with cosmopolitan African diaspora studies. Unlike Paul Gilroy, who coined the term and based it on W.E.B. DuBoiss double consciousness, Zapata, in Chang el gran putas (1983), creates an empowering mythology that reframes black resistance in Colombia, Haiti, Mexico, Brazil, and the United States. In Um defeito de cor (2006), Gonalves imagines the survival strategies of a legendary woman said to be the mother of black abolitionist poet Lus Gama and a conspirator in an African Muslim led revolt in Brazils Black Rome. These novels show differing visions of revolution, black community, femininity, sexuality, and captivity. They skillfully reveal how events preceding the UNESCO Decade of Afro-Descent (20152024) alter our understanding of Afro- Latin America as it gains increased visibility. Published by Bucknell University Press. Distributed worldwide by Rutgers University Press.