A polyphony of values, symbols, and practices: festivals and celebrations of black associational life in the post-Abolition (Sabará/Brazil)

Abstract

This article analyzes Black festivals in the immediate post-abolition period through the experiences of Black associational life in Sabará, Brazil, during the 1880s and 1890s. Its objective is to examine the cultural meanings and political senses attributed to the celebrations of 13 de Maio and to the religious festivals promoted by the Brotherhood of Nossa Senhora do Rosário, framing them as privileged spaces of sociability, dispute, and political action among Black populations. Based on the analysis of the minute books of the Brotherhood of Nossa Senhora do Rosário and, above all, the local press, we examine the different, and at times contradictory, readings, meanings, and interpretations that the participants of these festivals constructed and attributed to the multiple experiences of celebration. The article argues that these manifestations cannot be understood as homogeneous events or as devoid of political density, but rather as symbolic fields marked by a polyphony of values, conflicts, and negotiations surrounding notions of citizenship, legal freedom, and formal equality. The study thus demonstrates how the right to celebrate constituted a fundamental dimension of struggles for political participation and social belonging in the post-abolition context.