“Eating Jabuticabas” by Muniz Sodré: inscribing fissures in white supremacy

Abstract

In this article – an exercise in literary criticism of “Eating Jabuticabas,” a short story by Muniz Sodré (1988) – anchored in Black Radical Thought (MBEMBE, 2018; FANON, 2020; NOGUEIRA, 2021; WILDERSON III, 2021), we contend that the investment in racist violence, epitomized by a forceful slap against a Black man’s face, reveals the persistent white desire to control black bodies and their thoughts. Furthermore, we propose that the short story dramatizes the colonial burden and the libidinal economy of white supremacy, rendering visible the phantoms and perversities of whiteness that continue to haunt the present. In summary, in the luxurious building where he lives, João Jorge, a Black man, confronts the strangeness and discomfort of his neighbors. On one occasion, the building administrator, a white man as pale as the marble walls, strikes him with a forceful slap across the face. Instead of dodging, João Jorge offers the other cheek. After the incident, the building manager avoids contact by altering his schedule for entering and leaving the premises.