The discoursivity of color racism: outbursts and historical shifts - doi: 10.4025/actascilangcult.v35i4.20279

Abstract

Foregrounded on the historical a priori and Foucauldian archeology and genealogy, current study analyzes the relationships of power and the interplay of forces which activates a discourse, allegedly true, that stereotypes subjects and contributes towards the standardization of white identity. The eruption and displacements of meaning which build the whitening ethos by discourse on aesthetics and beauty through their regular recurrence are discussed. The theoretical and analytical apparatus is foregrounded on French Discourse Analysis, following Foucault (2006a and b, 2007, 2008, 2010a and b), and on Human and Social Sciences, with special reference to Munanga (1988, 2006a e b), Guimarães (2004, 2008) and Domingues (2002, 2005). The later is based on the theoretical basis of dialogicity with discursive and linguistic materialities derived from a corpus which comprise labels and advertisements, highlighting specificities between the imagetic and linguistic. Whereas terminology whitens skin, control, frizzy hair and others, the image focuses on forms featuring historically privileged characteristics that comply with the logic of standardization.