Axé instagramável?: discurso, subjetividades e resistências de comunidades tradicionais de terreiro de Assú/RN no Instagram

Abstract

In Brazil, the discourses produced around faith on digital social networks draw attention to the barrier of beliefs, built on the stigmatization of non-Christian religions. On Instagram, interactions denounce customs of the old diaspora, based on the stigma that creates practices of religious racism in cyberspace. However, we can see the rise of discourses that signal the affirmation of terreiro peoples in the recognition and propagation of the founding black and indigenous identities in the cult of ancestors, going against the order of the condemned of the earth. And so we ask: how do the discursive materialities of the traditional terreiro communities of Assú/RN produce subjectivities and resistance in their presence on Instagram? The general objective of this research is to analyze how these discursive materialities produced by traditional Candomblé, Jurema, Umbanda and Quimbanda communities from Assú, in Rio Grande do Norte, published on Instagram, inscribe the production of other subjectivities and the resignification of their presence in a digital context. Methodologically, this research is supported by the qualitative-interpretative paradigm, within the scope of Language Studies, with a focus on an undisciplined Applied Linguistics, through an intersectional debate, also anchored in the discourse analysis proposed by Foucault, in the digital discourse analysis proposed by Marie-Anne Paveau, as well as the discussions developed by Cultural Studies, especially those dedicated to the theme of Afro-American religions. As objects of investigation, we selected six public profiles of traditional Assuvian terreiro communities on Instagram. As discursive material for analysis, we listed the profile bio, traffic metrics on the social network (such as number of followers, publications and engagement), posts published in the feed (including reels, reposts and image carousel), with image/video and description, as well as comments posted on the network. The results suggest modes of subjectivation that have been grouped into three dimensions of analysis: a) the circulation of worship and space; b) participation in the dynamics of the city; c) pride in belonging as a form of self-care on Instagram. These modes of subjectivation both reterritorialize Instagram and inscribe other possible forms of life in Assú. The presence of terreiro peoples on Instagram reveals the production of resistance, using technodiscourse strategies to inscribe the otherness of their manifestations, despite the algorithmic and religious racisms that make up the online dynamics of interaction in the colonial project.