Research project
Bridging Worlds: Brazilian Cultural Thought in Global Perspective
- Start date: 1 September 2025
- End date: 30 August 2026
- Funder: Internal (LCS)
- Primary investigator: Professor Stephanie Dennison
- Co-investigators: Professor Thea Pitman, Victoria Adams
- External co-investigators: Alex King, Head of Programming at Leeds International Film Festival
Partners and collaborators
Leeds International Film Festival
Description
Bridging Worlds: Brazilian Cultural Thought in Global Perspective
The overarching research question this project addresses is: In what ways does Brazilian Cultural Studies, and Brazilian Cultural History more broadly, inform, influence and shape research being carried out beyond its own narrow boundaries? We are particularly interested in analysing the extent to which Brazilian cultural thought can be harnessed to challenge and reframe dominant cultural narratives and help integrate Global South perspectives into the broader field of cultural studies. We hope with this project to present a framework which colleagues working in cultural studies elsewhere in LCS can use to situate their own fields within global conversations, fostering a more interconnected and interdisciplinary approach to cultural research. Ultimately, our goal is to create a model that encourages more inclusive, decolonial research practices that bridge geographical, cultural, and intellectual divides, contributing to a more equitable and nuanced understanding of world cultures.
We propose a series of activities that highlight both the wealth and diversity of Brazilian culture and its importance as a touchstone for interdisciplinary dialogue, and the development of innovative, decolonial frameworks in contemporary research.
Impact
The development of new research and a new, inclusive research community that can challenge and reframe dominant cultural narratives and help integrate Global South perspectives into the broader field of cultural studies. Our intention, for example, is to maintain an active website beyond the life of the funding award as a resource and to assist in promoting cultural studies research in LCS.
Making central the place of the University of Leeds as part of the UK/Brazil Season of Culture (August 2025 – July 2026), with impact on the School’s research environment (web presence; blog posts) and potential to lead to further opportunities to work with the new Instituto Guimaraes Rosa (Brazil’s national cultural institute)
Developing ties between LCS and the new and dynamic National Poetry Centre.
Publications and outputs
Co-I Victoria Adams will draw on some of the project findings in her BA post-doc output (monograph on Brazilian “pontos de cultura” or cultural hotspots), and in particular the extent to which Brazil’s forward-thinking cultural policy influences policies elsewhere.
PI Stephanie Dennison will draft a chapter entitled Brazilian Cinema in Global Context for the second edition of the Routledge Companion to World Cinema (Dennison and Paul Cooke co-eds) based on some of the findings of the project.
A number of blog posts and video interventions.