Henrique Gomes, PhD student (2020-2024)

Supervisors: Dr. Bárbara Fernández Melleda and Dr. Tim Gruenewald

E-mail address: hgomes@connect.hku.hk

Why HKU? Given the intersection of my academic interests in cinema, literature, decolonial studies, and history, the interdisciplinary framework offered by the School of Modern Languages and Cultures aligned seamlessly with my doctoral research. The exceptional guidance and expertise provided by my esteemed supervisors, coupled with the university’s robust financial support and international student network, consolidated my decision to choose HKU.

PhD Project
Epistemic Oppression and Epistemic Diversity in Contemporary Brazilian Northeastern Literature and Cinema

Short Abstract: My research posits the existence of a discernible decolonial tradition among contemporary writers and filmmakers in Northeast Brazil, who persistently engage in the critique of coloniality within their works. The study undertakes an analysis of four distinct works to outline this proposed tradition: the novels Viva o Povo Brasileiro (João Ubaldo Ribeiro, 1984) and Torto Arado (Itamar Vieira Junior, 2019), and the feature films A Idade da Terra (Glauber Rocha, 1980), and Bacurau (Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles, 2019). This analysis specifically probes how these works, as exemplars of such decolonial tradition, articulate two pivotal issues to decoloniality: epistemic injustice and decolonial practice.

Keywords: epistemic injustice, decolonial resistance, epistemic oppression, epistemic resistance, Brazilian cinema, Brazilian literature.

Short bio: Henrique Gomes specializes in Latin American studies. With an academic background in Film Studies, his scholarly journey at HKU has been marked by the presentation of his research at several international conferences, notably the 2022 MLA International Symposium and the 2023 SLAS conference. In 2023, Gomes was invited to publish his article "The Portrayal of Racial Bias in Bacurau" in the peer-reviewed academic journal World Tensions, an international collaborative initiative involving the University of York, the Universidad Autónoma de México, and the State University of Ceará, in Brazil. More recently, in 2023, Gomes was the recipient of the Glasgow/HKU Early Career Mobility Funds, which facilitated a two-month period as a visiting scholar at the University of Glasgow, in the United Kingdom. During this period, he had the opportunity to disseminate his research findings and teach Brazilian Cinema as part of the Latin American Film course.

Awards, Publications and Others:

2020-2024 — scholarship holder of the prestigious Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme (HKPF), granted by the Hong Kong Research Grants Council, as well as the HKU Presidential PhD Scholarship (HKU-PS), granted by The University of Hong Kong. The scholarships provide a total sum of US$203,000 for the whole study period, distributed between annual cash awards, monthly stipend, research-related travel allowance and waiver of composition fees.

2023 — Gomes was granted the Glasgow/HKU Early Career Mobility award, leading to a two-month period as a visiting scholar at the University of Glasgow (UK).

2021 — Teaching Assistant to AMER2068: Magical Realism in Latin American Literature and Film. School of Modern Languages and Cultures, at The University of Hong Kong.

2021 — Teaching Assistant to AMER2061: Argentina and Chile Dictatorships: Building Resistance through Literature and Film. School of Modern Languages and Cultures, at The University of Hong Kong.

2020/2021 — Teaching Assistant to AMER1050: Foundations of American Studies. School of Modern Languages and Cultures, at The University of Hong Kong.

2020-2024 scholarship holder of the prestigious Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme (HKPF), granted by the Hong Kong Research Grants Council, as well as the HKU Presidential PhD Scholarship (HKU-PS), granted by The University of Hong Kong. The scholarships provide a total sum of US$203,000 for the whole study period, distributed between annual cash awards, monthly stipend, research-related travel allowance and waiver of composition fees.

2014-2015 scholarship holder for the Artistic Culture Promotion Program at the Federal University of Ceará, Brazil.

2013 scholarship holder for the Technical and Artistic Workshops Mercosur Audiovisual (RECAM) in Latin American Cinema Studies in Asunción, Paraguay.

Publications and Presentations:

Presentation: “Epistemic Injustice and Decolonial Resistance in Contemporary Brazilian North-eastern Literature and Cinema”. Focus on Latin America Seminar Series. Discussant: Mr. Clifford Pereira, Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (London). University of Hong Kong, 2024.

Presentation: “The Portrayal of Epistemic Injustice and Epistemic Diversity in Contemporary Brazilian North-eastern Literature and Cinema”. Showcase of Contemporary Brazilian Cultural Studies. University of Leeds, 2023.

Journal article: “The portrayal of racial bias in Bacurau (2019)”. Tensões Mundiais (World Tensions). Fortaleza, Brazil, 2023. https://revistas.uece.br/index.php/tensoesmundiais/.

Conference paper: “Viva o Povo Brasileiro (1984) and the pervasiveness of racially biased political prejudice in 2022 Brazil”. Society for Latin American Studies Conference (SLAS). Queen’s University of Belfast, 2023.

Guest lecture: “Racialised Hierarchies in Dystopian Brazilian Cinema”. Magíster en Estudios Culturales y Latinoamericanos at PUCV. Valparaiso, Chile, 2022.

Conference paper: “The Contradictions of Brazilian Pigmentocracy as Portrayed in Bacurau (2019)”. Ventana 4: Decolonial Dialogues from within and beyond the Global Margins. University of York, 2022.

Conference paper: “Unveiling the Particularities of Brazilian Whiteness in Bacurau (2019)”, on the panel "Inside Borders Explained: Subverting Otherness, Exclusion and Hostility in Contemporary Latin American Cultures (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay)". MLA International Symposium. Glasgow, 2022.

Online Symposium: “Deindianization as a threat to indigenous reserves in Bolsonaro’s Brazil” on the panel “Contesting Racial Violence”. Race, Activism and Space in Latin-American Theory and Practice. Institute of Latin American Studies, University of London, 2020.