Agenda 2030 PhD candidate Iury Salustiano Trojaborg, who works at the Malmö Theatre Academy, has had her first research article published in the Journal PlaySpace from the University of Stavanger in Norway. It focuses on her grandmother Voinha's journey from the Amazon rainforest region in North Brazil to the megacity of Rio de Janeiro at the end of the Second World War.
When Iury Salustiano Trojaborg previously asked relatives why the grandmother moved to Rio de Janeiro, the answer she received was that her grandmother moved to be with the love of her life, a man named Armando.
"It was a long, romantic story that didn't put Voinha at the centre of the narrative, but gave it a masculine touch," says Iury.
Through a methodology of questioning and listening to Voinha, who was approaching the age of one hundred, she managed to unravel the true story of what had happened. Voinha revealed that she had been forced into marriage at the age of 14. She soon had four children with an abusive husband, but then managed to make her way to Rio de Janeiro to start a new life.
"Seeing no other way out of an abusive relationship, Voinha, with the support of her mother, secretly boarded a steamship in 1945 and sailed to Rio de Janeiro during the Second World War, leaving behind her husband, four children and the world as she'd known it".
Feminist empowerment
In her second marriage, Voinha had nine children with a husband who later left her with the sole responsibility of caring for the large family. To support herself and her children, Voinha became an industrial seamstress, a job she continued well into her nineties.
Iury's interviews with her grandmother are complemented by short video clips of her telling her story.
"The combination of questioning and listening allowed an oppressed woman to speak for herself, and in this way promoted dramaturgies that raised awareness of feminist empowerment as a means of confronting the colonial and patriarchal ways in which Brazilian national identity is constructed".
The published essay is an attempt to question how stories are told, by whom and from what perspectives.
"While interviewing my grandmother about her migratory journey and the need to reinvent herself in order to survive, I was able to see similarities between the struggles I went through while migrating from Rio de Janeiro. A natural bond emerged and this togetherness became an experience of challenging patriarchy. Together, two generations of one family shared experiences of empowerment and resistance".
Ask your ancestors questions
Iury Salustiano Trojaborg believes in the importance of questioning our ancestors while they are still alive, asking them questions, interrogating them and letting them speak for themselves.
"We, the younger generation, can learn a lot from them. And I hope that when other people read my essay, they will feel inspired to ask their ancestors questions and learn from them."
Read the essay - journals.ius.no
Watch a video clip with Voinha - youtube.com
Read more about Iury Salustiano Trojaborg