Marielle restored? Mortuary graphisms, memory and ritual in intersectional and anti-racist responses to necropolitical violence in Rio de Janeiro

Abstract

This article discusses mortuary memory and ritual among subalternised populations, in their struggle against necropolitical violence, in the city of Rio de Janeiro, as of the late 2010s. The case study analyses the conception, vandalisation and restoration of two graffiti works, made by Brazilian artists Panmela Castro and Simone Siss, with a decisive contribution from Malala Yousafzai. These works, made in honour of the late Councillor Marielle Franco, are often celebrated as material memories of the intersectional and anti-racist resistance against the mounting authoritarianism of the Brazilian socio-political regime. Yet, they are also confronted by discourses that seek to delegitimise Black and intersectional bodies as effective members of Brazilian society, deeming them disposable and unworthy of mourning. The analysis highlights the importance and the agency of mortuary graphisms as factors of mobilisation and memorial (in)justice, which question and destabilise hegemonic narratives concerning the racialised character of Brazilian society.