ethnic-racial issues in discourses on black male virility in homoerotic short stories

Abstract

This paper aims to address the naturalisation of black male virility discourse in homoerotic short stories published online. The theoretical framework includes the issue of race (BELL HOOKS, 1995; FREITAS, 2011; FANON, 2008 MBEMBE 2018; WIEVIORKA, 2018), a discourse-oriented perspective (FOUCAULT, 2002; 2012; MAINGUENEAU, 2010), the concept of virility as well as its effects of meaning throughout History (TAMAGNE, 2012; THUILLIER, 2012). From a methodological standpoint, this study endorses a qualitative-interpretive approach. Data were gathered from the ten most voted gay short stories available in the Conto Erótico [Erotic Short Story] website, the titles of which include the term negão [big, black man], so as to verify in which ways the physical traits and sexual performances of black men described as good lovers are conveyed. Results suggest that such a portrayal ultimately reinforces structural racism in Brazil, which can be traced back to the establishment of hierarchical relations between white European colonisers and black African slaves over centuries of official slavery. Up to this day, such relations help to build an objectified effect of meaning around black men which portrays them as objects of desire in the social imaginary.