Between The Quilombo And The University: Intellectual Trajectory And Afro-Brazilian Religiosity In Anthropology — Interview With Maria De Lourdes Siqueira

Abstract

This interview with Maria de Lourdes Siqueira, an anthropologist, retired professor at the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA), and director of the Afro cultural organization Ilê Aiyê, addresses key issues related to her intellectual trajectory, her research on African and Afro-Brazilian religious traditions, and her theoretical-political stance regarding institutional racism and the decolonization of anthropological knowledge. The dialogue was organized around six thematic axes: academic training and professional trajectory; political persecution during the Brazilian civil-military dictatorship; pathways into Anthropology and international experience; research methodology and the production of knowledge on Black identity; and the intersections of gender, race, and Afro-Brazilian religiosity. The interview was conducted on August 19, 2024, in São Luís, Maranhão, during the opening public lecture of the Doctoral Program in Culture and Society at the Federal University of Maranhão (PGCULT/UFMA). As such, it constitutes a qualified primary source for analyzing the production of Black knowledge and decolonial practices within the field of the Humanities in Brazil.