Brazilian and African sources for
the study of cultural transferences from
Brazil to Africa during the nineteenth
and twentieth centuries
J. Michael TurnerThis article seeks to be a panorama or general overview of the various sources
of information and research possibilities for study in the field of African-
Brazilian studies, treating archives and other sources of documentation in
Brazil, countries in West Africa and a small selected group of European sources.
For the purposes of this brief survey, centres of documentation consist of
national, State and local archives, national and local libraries—research insti-
tutes and collections which pertain to government offices. Certain private
collections of manuscripts and documents will also be presented for discussion
as they include useful, often rare information which cannot be duplicated in
the public collections and archives. While the primary research for this general
study was based on essentially historical methodology and sources, it is evident
that the research facilities employed hold useful information for research in
other academic disciplines, particularly those involving the social sciences.
The uses of oral history, its possibilities in complementing more traditional
historical sources constitute a subsidiary theme of the present essay.
The great scope and depth of the current research in African-Brazilian
studies will be illustrated by a brief description of some of the more recent
projects conducted by interested ' Africanists' in Brazil and West Africa; these
various studies are related in that they are based in the complicated and varied
set of historic-cultural relations which link Brazil and the African continent.
The projects range from cultural anthropology and linguistics to race relations,
comparative government to intellectual and social history. Those involved in
the research are Brazilian, African, European and North American. As the
group of researchers in African-Brazilian studies as yet remains relatively
small, the opportunities for joint studies and comparative research remain
good. Combined efforts in the selecting of data and sharing of informational
holdings by the various documentation centres is a real possibility, particu-
larly as their efforts to receive funding may be successful only as a function of
institutional co-operation. Future research projects and possibilities, which
form the final part of the essay, despite the enormous costs in field research,
dealing often with three continents—should be considered with cautious
optimism based on the totality of subjects and themes yet to be sufficiently