Mujeres negras en el carnaval de Buenos Aires, c. 1816-1890: Transgrediendo fronteras de género, clase y raza

Abstract

En el siglo XIX, el contexto del carnaval colocaba a las mujeres afrodescendientes de Buenos Aires entre dos dinámicas cruzadas: la de una jerarquía social que las arrojaba al escalón más bajo y la de una fiesta que prometía, por un momento, poner en suspenso algunas de las reglas que la organizaban. ¿En qué medida pudieron encontrar en el carnaval ocasiones para transgredir las fronteras de clase, raza y género que aseguraban la estabilidad del orden social? Este trabajo apunta a responder esa pregunta mediante un análisis detallado de las maneras en las que participaron de la fiesta.

In the 19th century, the context of the carnival placed Afro-descendant women of Buenos Aires between two opposite dynamics: that of a social hierarchy that threw them to the lowest, most oppressive situation and that of a party that promised, for a moment, to put some of the rules that organized that hierarchy on hold. To what extent could they find in the carnival occasions to transgress class, race and gender boundaries that ensured the stability of the social order? This work aims to answer that question through a detailed analysis of the ways in which they participated in the celebration. It is supported by information coming from a wide variety of newspapers (both of the black community and white), magazines, books, and other print matter that allow us to reconstruct the carnival scene between the period of great changes that began with the Independence and the 1890s, when the participation of Afro-Porteños in the carnival had reached its greatest intensity.