O SABER É NOSSO⁚ THE METAMORPHOSIS OF ANCESTRAL AFRICAN KNOWLEDGE TO FEMININE POWER WITHIN YORÙBÁ AND BRAZILIAN SOCIETIES

Abstract

Every society have their history, way of life as well as ancestral knowledge that serve as template for everything they do. In Africa, the life and acts of the ancestors are particularly valued as the traditional image that touch the life of the people. Nevertheless, this connection with the ancestors strengthen the preser-vation of knowledge and in turn represent an important factor towards the continuity and survival of the people as a social and ethnic group. The African society, especially the Yoruba people interact with the ancestral Afri-can knowledge in every ramification, political, social, educational, economical or religious etc. Above all, the Yoruba women are the protagonists in the process of preservation and transmission of this ancestral knowledge, these functions over the years allotted them important positions in the society within religious, political and economic spheres as Ìyánífá, Ìyálóde, Ìyálójà, Ìyálájé, etc. The fluid movement of the ancestral African knowledge sustained by these women found its way to diaspora during slavery. The knowledge became well rooted among the Afro-Brazilians, raising a league of dedicated women geared towards same cultural cause- the preservation of African heritage. Departing from an analytical point of view, this paper seeks to examine the metamorphosis of ancestral African knowledge into feminine power and empowerment within various feminist ideological views among the Afro-Brazilian women in Brazil. It will also analyze the impacts of Yoruba mythology of female Orixás and heroines in the formation of black women as leaders in Brazil towards the preservation of their heritage and “Literatura-Terreiro”.