Journal Articles by Júlia Garraio
Europe Now: A Journal of Research and Arts, 2020
This essay examines the subjectivities (re)created by Ronaldo/Mayorga’s case in Portugal and, by ... more This essay examines the subjectivities (re)created by Ronaldo/Mayorga’s case in Portugal and, by analyzing the irruption of rhetoric against #MeToo in the debate, questions how far it may have contributed to the promotion of a hostile environment against the movement in the footballer's home country. It explores if and how far the widespread popular support for Ronaldo relied on and reproduced entrenched cultural stereotypes, which have traditionally excused aggressors of sexual violence and blamed women who claim having been raped; then it explores the role of football as the larger cultural background framing the reception of Mayorga’s rape allegations in Portugal.
Violence against Women, 2019
This essay examines two Portuguese novels about colonialism and its legacies: António Lobo Antune... more This essay examines two Portuguese novels about colonialism and its legacies: António Lobo Antunes’s Fado Alexandrino (1983) and Aida Gomes’s Os Pretos de Pousaflores (The Blacks from Pousaflores) (2011). Fado Alexandrino perpetuates the use of Black women’s raped bodies as a plot device to represent colonial violence, while Gomes’s narrative empowers racialized victims of sexual abuse and challenges dominant public memories of the Colonial War. A close reading of these novels, contextualized against the background of scholarly debates about the representation of sexual violence, exposes both the perils and potential of cultural works to preserve the memory of rape in armed conflict.
Socioscapes. International Journal of Societies, Politics and Cultures, 2020
The authors address the role played by digital media in developing an ideological and identitaria... more The authors address the role played by digital media in developing an ideological and identitarian discourse characterized by fear and moral panic about Others across Europe. In “Online social media and the construction of sexual moral panic around migrants in Europe”, they begin with analysing the securitization devices introduced in many countries of the EU and their work along specific gendered, sexual, and racialised lines. The article examines the role of digital media in amplifying the “sexual moral panic” about migration. Taking Italy and Germany as case studies-sites, we argue that digital media have strongly contributed to the dissemination and escalation of fears of invasion and of dangerous sexualities framed by constructions of race and gender. Their contribution unveils the ways in which colonialist and racist legacies that are historically sedimented in both Italy and Germany get reorganised “online” (i.e. through social media). These, in turn, produce a very specific post-colonial dimension reinforcing widespread hatred of the Other and new processes of racialisation, which include, among others, gender stereotyping.
Socioscapes. International Journal of Societies, Politics and Cultures, 2020
The authors address the role played by digital media in developing an ideological and identitaria... more The authors address the role played by digital media in developing an ideological and identitarian discourse characterized by fear and moral panic about Others across Europe. In “Online social media and the construction of sexual moral panic around migrants in Europe”, they begin with analysing the securitization devices introduced in many countries of the EU and their work along specific gendered, sexual, and racialised lines. The article examines the role of digital media in amplifying the “sexual moral panic” about migration. Taking Italy and Germany as case studies-sites, we argue that digital media have strongly contributed to the dissemination and escalation of fears of invasion and of dangerous sexualities framed by constructions of race and gender. Their contribution unveils the ways in which colonialist and racist legacies that are historically sedimented in both Italy and Germany get reorganised “online” (i.e. through social media). These, in turn, produce a very specific post-colonial dimension reinforcing widespread hatred of the Other and new processes of racialisation, which include, among others, gender stereotyping.
Journal of Lusophone Studies, 2016
This article examines how the image of the black woman from the countryside who moves to Luanda w... more This article examines how the image of the black woman from the countryside who moves to Luanda was developed at three key moments in Angolan literature as a means of constructing national identity. The analysis focuses on Nga Mutúri (1882), by Alfredo Troni ; “Linda,” a short story from A Casa da Mãezinha, by António Cardoso; and “Martinha,” a short story from Momento de Ilusão (2000), by Fragata de Morais.
E-cadernos, The Xenophobic an Political Manipulation of Women's Rights, 16, 111-142, 2012
The aim of the present article is to tackle the way in which CNN and BBC – as leading examples of... more The aim of the present article is to tackle the way in which CNN and BBC – as leading examples of hegemonic Western media – represented the cases of sexual violence that were being denounced during the war in Libya. Looking into the coverage of this war may be useful to analyze the very concept of wartime rape and enquire to which extent rape narratives are framed by social constructs of sexuality, gender, and race, as well as by political agendas. I argue that the Western media tended to pay more attention to rape stories that were politically beneficial to NATO’s war effort in support of the opposition, and showed less interest in accusations that did not involve Gaddafi's henchmen. I finally discuss the culturalization of sexual violence, by addressing the strategies of othering implied in the media explanations and contextualization of the rapes
RCCS Annual Review. A selection from the Portuguese journal Revista Crítica de Ciências Sociais, 5, 43-63, 2013
Reflexões sobre mulheres palestinianas e cinema, 2014
The Israeli film Strangers (Erez Tadmor/ Guy Nattiv, 2007) loosely integrates elements from Shake... more The Israeli film Strangers (Erez Tadmor/ Guy Nattiv, 2007) loosely integrates elements from Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet and uses the archetype of the star-crossed lovers to approach the Middle East conflict. This paper questions how the original structure, which relies on a rivalry between two identical parties, is transposed to a setting where the power relations are marked by inequality. By examining the political meanings and the Orientalist overtones that are embedded in the process of gendering Israel and Palestine through the protagonists, this paper argues that Strangers affirms Israel’s cultural and moral superiority and silences the structural violence of both the occupation and the dispossession of the Palestinians. Granted that a key element in Shakespeare is the final reconciliation between the families, this paper finally questions the pertinence of Shakespeare’s play as a hypotext to address the realities of the Middle East.
REAL. Revista de Estudos Alemães, 2012
Revista Crítica de Ciências Sociais, Mulheres e Guerras: representações e estratégias, 96, 2012
E-cadernos, Discursos e Representações de Mulheres Hoje: perspetivas disciplinares em diálogo, 2011
Resumo: Nos últimos anos, foram produzidos vários filmes que abordam o problema do tráfico de ser... more Resumo: Nos últimos anos, foram produzidos vários filmes que abordam o problema do tráfico de seres humanos para fins de exploração sexual. Lilja 4ever (2002) de Lukas Moodysson, Promised Land (2004) de Amos Gitai e Transe (2006) de Teresa Villaverde são coproduções europeias sobre a prostituição forçada de adolescentes e mulheres da Europa de Leste que têm a viagem para terras estrangeiras e a desterritorialização como elementos estruturantes. A minha análise centrar-se-á em três pontos fundamentais: a opção dos realizadores pela ficção (e não pelo documentário), a construção da vítima e as narrativas contextualizadoras criadas para compreender o tráfico de seres humanos no mundo contemporâneo. Pretendo definir as possíveis funções das representações construídas nos filmes em questão, bem como o seu carácter performativo enquanto forma de empenhamento social.
Estudios filológicos alemanes: revista del Grupo de …, Jan 1, 2011
E-Cadernos , Rituais Contemporâneos, 8, 121-135., 2010
Ao transitarem para o espaço público, as histórias de violação perdem frequentemente o seu refere... more Ao transitarem para o espaço público, as histórias de violação perdem frequentemente o seu referente inicial para se tornarem catalisadores dos receios, conflitos, rivalidades e ódios de carácter político, económico ou étnico de uma determinada sociedade ou grupo social. Não só na propaganda de guerra o Outro, o Inimigo, é frequentemente esconjurado como vil violador. Também os "tempos de paz" oferecem exemplos de aproveitamento de violações para definir quem deve ser excluído. Esta contribuição pretende reflectir, a partir de um debate promovido em 2006 na revista norte-americana FrontPage Magazine, como certas violações cometidas na Europa por imigrantes muçulmanos foram reinterpretadas como ritual bárbaro e instrumentalizadas como prova do carácter "não-europeu" e "nãoocidental" do Islão. Palavras-chave: violência sexual; orientalismo; islamofobia; propaganda; FrontPage Magazine. O violador muçulmano 122 O número de violações cometidas por imigrantes muçulmanos nos países ocidentais é tão elevado que é difícil vê-las apenas como actos esporádicos de indivíduos. Assemelha-se a guerra. […] Discordo que isto não tenha nada a ver com o Islão. O próprio Maomé tinha sexo forçado (violação) com várias das suas escravas/concubinas. Isto é perfeitamente permitido, tanto na suna como no Corão.
REAL: Revista de Estudos Alemães, 1, 1, 1-19, 2010
Quo vadis, Romania? Zeitschrift für eine aktuelle Romanistik , 34, 82-99, 2009
Estudios filológicos alemanes, Jan 1, 2008
... | Ayuda. Inspiration oder subversion? vom bericht "die stunde der frauen" b... more ... | Ayuda. Inspiration oder subversion? vom bericht "die stunde der frauen" bis zum fernsehfilm "die flucht". Autores: Júlia Garraio; Localización: Estudios filológicos alemanes: revista del Grupo de Investigación Filología Alemana, ISSN 1578-9438, Nº. 15, 2008 , pags. 317-327. ...
Book Chapters by Júlia Garraio
Marcella Corsi, Laeticia Thissen and Giulia Zacchia (org.), The #MeToo Social Media Effect and its Potentials for Social Change Iin Europe. Brussels: FEPS - Foundation for European Progressive St, 38-54, 2019
Burke’s 2006 “Me too” and the 2017 #MeToo are both part of a long feminist tradition of women org... more Burke’s 2006 “Me too” and the 2017 #MeToo are both part of a long feminist tradition of women organising themselves to combat rape culture, fight for the empowerment of women and denounce the judicial system for allowing so often the impunity of sexual violence and the pervasiveness of sexual harassment. Both result from and interact with larger societal tendencies into which they introduce new dynamics. Hence, the European translations of the 2017 #MeToo operate as part of a broader spectrum of agendas with which they inevitably interact. In this chapter, J. Garraio analyses how the movements’ deep embeddedness in wider aspirations and local agendas entails the potential of the
movement for social chance but also the risk of having it interacting with anti emancipatory agendas and being appropriated by them. The author illustrates her argument by focusing on the German example where the local version of the #MeToo was distorted and instrumentalised to defend far-right policies resulting in a backlash against the feminist movement.
As a community of researchers and practitioners who participate in the workshops and seminars of ... more As a community of researchers and practitioners who participate in the workshops and seminars of the International Research Group ‘Sexual Violence in Armed Conflict’ (SVAC) we recognise that our work presents unique challenges. Like all scholars we are committed to producing credible accounts of our research. Like all scholars we understand the limitations of our situated positions. In providing analyses of sexual violence, however, we find that the epistemological relationship between us as researchers and the issues we investigate is complicated by the affective horizon of the social and cultural imaginaries that surround sexual violence in general and sexual violence in armed conflict in particular. We also recognise that our work is inherently political in the sense that in seeking to understand this violence we cannot avoid addressing such political questions as: What is the relationship between sexual violence in war times and times of peace? What power structures are served by this violence? How is this violence normalised/excused by social and cultural ideas/ideologies?
The following conversation shows how these issues have arisen in our discussions; how we have struggled with them; how we see our role as scholars and activists who, in exposing the realities of sexual violence, are committed to undoing the politics that enable it.
With Debra Bergoffen, Pascale R. Bos, Joanna Bourke, Kirsten Campbell, Louise du Toit, Júlia Garraio, Elissa Mailänder, Gabriela Mischkowski, Regina Mühlhäuser, Fabrice Virgili and Gaby Zipfel
Gaby Zipfel, Regina Mühlhäuser and Kirsten Campbell (org.), In Plain Sight. Sexual Violence in Armed Conflict. New Delhi: Zubaan, 439-446, 2019
When I attended Retornar: Traços de Memória [Return: Traces of Memory] (Peralta 2015)–probably th... more When I attended Retornar: Traços de Memória [Return: Traces of Memory] (Peralta 2015)–probably the major exhibition so far on the issue of the ‘returnees’ –, I was struck by the presence of four photos of a Portuguese colonial soldier posing with black women. I was perplexed not by the reality suggested by the four photos–the massive sexual exploitation and abuse of black women during the Portuguese colonial war –but by their origin: a private album. Private albums function as an archive of the moments and events that a person or a family considers worth remembering. They are the outcome of a process of selection, by which their author(s) frame and communicate the memories that are supposed to be shared with his/her/their family, friends and relatives. So how was someone’s ‘good history’ compatible with photos suggesting normalized sexual abuse? And what were these photos supposed to signify in Atlas, a composition made mostly of photos of moments of happiness and leisure invoking a ‘lost paradise’ of white privilege in Africa?
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Journal Articles by Júlia Garraio
Book Chapters by Júlia Garraio
movement for social chance but also the risk of having it interacting with anti emancipatory agendas and being appropriated by them. The author illustrates her argument by focusing on the German example where the local version of the #MeToo was distorted and instrumentalised to defend far-right policies resulting in a backlash against the feminist movement.
The following conversation shows how these issues have arisen in our discussions; how we have struggled with them; how we see our role as scholars and activists who, in exposing the realities of sexual violence, are committed to undoing the politics that enable it.
With Debra Bergoffen, Pascale R. Bos, Joanna Bourke, Kirsten Campbell, Louise du Toit, Júlia Garraio, Elissa Mailänder, Gabriela Mischkowski, Regina Mühlhäuser, Fabrice Virgili and Gaby Zipfel
movement for social chance but also the risk of having it interacting with anti emancipatory agendas and being appropriated by them. The author illustrates her argument by focusing on the German example where the local version of the #MeToo was distorted and instrumentalised to defend far-right policies resulting in a backlash against the feminist movement.
The following conversation shows how these issues have arisen in our discussions; how we have struggled with them; how we see our role as scholars and activists who, in exposing the realities of sexual violence, are committed to undoing the politics that enable it.
With Debra Bergoffen, Pascale R. Bos, Joanna Bourke, Kirsten Campbell, Louise du Toit, Júlia Garraio, Elissa Mailänder, Gabriela Mischkowski, Regina Mühlhäuser, Fabrice Virgili and Gaby Zipfel
Compiled by the International Research Group ‘Sexual Violence in Armed Conflict’ (SVAC), this volume takes an interdisciplinary approach. Its enquiry employs four key relationships: War/Power, Violence/Sexuality, Gender/Engendering and Visibility/Invisibility. Through these, the authors aim to develop a deeper and more nuanced understanding of sexual violence in armed conflict.
Currently available via Zubaan books (https://zubaanbooks.com/shop/in-plain-sight/ ); will soon be distributed by Chicago University Press (https://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/I/bo46812960.html)
The Vietnam War, and twenty years later, the wars in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda brought the pervasiveness and persistence of sexual violence in armed conflict in sharp focus. Women and men have made their experiences of sexual violence in armed conflict public. Political and social practitioners have engaged with this phenomenon; it has been the subject of artistic and literary works, and the object of criminal prosecutions. An interdisciplinary scholarly field is now established.
Yet despite this increase of public and academic awareness, there is little consensus about the pervasiveness of this violence, it’s variations and its different forms. There is disagreement about the relationship of pre-war, wartime, and postwar circumstances, or the cultural and social models of gender that facilitate the perpetration of sexual violence. Current debates, such as ›sexual violence as a weapon of war‹, may be counterproductive since they can reduce it to a strategically implemented form of excessive violence. They often ignore the complex framework in which this violence occurs, which impedes the analysis of its broader impact and meaning. Essential questions such as the practices of gendering/ ›doing gender‹ or the intertwined nature of violence and sexuality increasingly disappear from the public political discourse. Moreover, even though many insights on the phenomenon have been accumulated, the perpetration of sexual violence in armed conflicts still continues unabated.
We still face more questions than satisfying explanations. It is time to reflect on the state of the field: What do we know and not yet know about the practices of sexual violence in armed conflict? How can we better describe incidences, motivations and responses? What kind of questions do we need to ask, and what theoretical approaches, methods and forms of communication are appropriate to shed light on these blind spots?
This international and interdisciplinary conference explores how wartime sexual violence is understood in the field and identifies the gaps in existing knowledge, with the aim of moving beyond current impasses and understanding. To do this, we aim to collaboratively develop a framework that sketches out the complex and mutable factors involved. We will do so through a reflection upon and close reading of sources, with the aim of positioning the occurrence of sexual violence in armed conflicts in the broader historical, social, and cultural context of gendered social conditions, cultural imaginations, ideas and attitudes, political strategies and power relations.
Das folgende Gespräch verdeutlicht, auf welche Weise diese Themen in unseren Diskussionen auftauchen, wie wir mit ihnen umgehen, und wie wir unsere Rolle als Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftler, als Aktivistinnen und Aktivisten verstehen, die sich mit der Erforschung der komplexen Realitäten sexueller Gewalt dafür einsetzen, den Politiken den Boden zu entziehen, die sie möglich machen.