ABSTRACT
Much have been discussed in decolonial studies on the importance of overcoming coloniality paradigms, especially in terms of an imposed Eurocentric knowledge which has been naturalized as universal, neutral, and the only valid way of thinking in our contemporary society. Regarding discursive studies in Brazil, such aspect is not different: critical discursive studies with decolonial approaches in Latin America have pointed out that the traditions in discursive research in several Brazilian academic institutions tend to reproduce theories coming from the Global North with little modification in the context in which they are being applied. It shows, consequently, our subordinate place of production in the academic field. In this sense, ways to decolonize discursive studies would be briefly explained as: 1) decolonizing knowledge: acknowledge that there is no universal thinking, and criticize theories and methods; 2) decolonizing power: in order to overcome such universalizing knowledge, local production of theories and methods has to be taken into account; and 3) decolonizing being: potentialize the geo-body politics of knowledge which aims to centralize local producers of knowledge, specially concerning when theorizing and explaining local struggles. This chapter presents some basic key concepts of Afroperspectivist epistemologies produced by thinkers from Afrodiaspora, mainly black Brazilian thinkers, in order to discuss their contributions to studies seeking to understand the relationships between discourse, race, and other intersectionalities in our context.
