The production of historiographical balances in Brazil: Between the political power and the discursive power (1990-2011)

Abstract

Theproductionofhistoriographicalbalances,understoodasevaluations/presenta-tionsofagroupofhistoriographicaltextsreferringtoaparticularsubject,althoughbeinganold practice,isatopicthatsofarhasnotyetbeensystematicallyproblematizedbyhistorytheorists. In the present article we intend to make an analysis of some power relations that we believe are at the core of this mode of enunciation.Based on two functions of the historiographical balance,viz.balance as an expression of a political place and balance as a procedure designed toestablishboundaries,weattempttoanalyzesomebalancesrelatedtoBrazil’spastofslavery thatwereproducedbetween1990and2011.Thisisathematicandrelevantperspective,since in this period the consolidation of graduate programs took place in Brazil,which promoted the perception of a new way to do history among the authors of period.