IQHIYA: ON MEANINGS AND SYMBOLS OF TURBANTS'S USE BY BLACK WOMEN. CONNECTIONS: BRAZIL, SOUTH AFRICA, MOZAMBIQUE

Abstract

The article relates and investigates the meanings that Brazilian and African black women in Brazil, South Africa and Mozambique establish with the use of Turbans (Crown, Doek, Gélè, Head Cloth, Headtie, Headwrap, Iqhiya, Klaft, Nemes, Ojá, Head Cloth, Scarfhead, Torbo, Turban). In order to do so, it seeks historical cultural meanings in the use of this fabric, which becomes an imposing and diversified piece of clothing, filled with stories, ancestry, identities and cultures. Inspired by an immersion trip to the African continent in 2016-2017, for this work, fieldwork was carried out in selected cities in two Brazilian states, São Paulo and Bahia, as well as interviews with participants from the African countries visited, to notice the differences and similarities in the meanings attributed to the uses of the Turbans. The research aims to discuss how the use of Turbans can be a connection between these countries in the black diaspora, and may influence the self-esteem, resistance, belonging and empowerment of these women. In this sense, we conclude that the Turban is the conductive diasporic thread and its use questions how the belonging also occurs outside the African territory. From these experiences, it sought to understand the need to listen and to share oral histories, transforming them into reference writings and multipliers in the historical narrative of black culture.