"Mestizaje, mestiçagem, métissage: useful concepts?"
Résumé
One goal of this essay is to compare the semantic fields of 'hybridity', 'miscegenation' and mestizaje/mestiçagem/métissage in different political, historical and linguistic contexts. These words have been used not only in a constructivist or postmodern sense, but also in essentialist and nationalist ways. The following essay will highlight some misunderstandings between the Anglo and Latin semantic fields of métissage. It is useful to present Euro-Latin and Latin American thoughts on métissage side by side because they are intimately linked. Most of the French or Francophone scholars who use or have used the concept of métissage are specialists in Latin America and the Caribbean. Therefore, I describe how mestizaje/mestiçagem has been used in Latin America in political and academic contexts, going on to focus on French political usage and academic thought surrounding métissage. Finally, I describe the current state of my own reflections on the topic.