Cientistas negras nos quadrinhos: ciência, colonização e afrofuturismo em Shuri, Riri Williams e Tilda Johnson

Abstract

Comics are cultural products of high importance for Science Education, either as a starting point for some specific pedagogical action, or as an element of culture that communicates about science. In many narratives of superheroes, superheroines and villains, science is present in superpowers, practices and discourses. Some of these heroes and heroines are professional scientists and follow a representational pattern, but few are black women scientists, a fact that reflects a symbolic historical absence in the narratives. This article aims to analyze the scientific discourses, the colonial crossings and the Afrofuturist elements present in comics of the characters Shuri, Riri Williams and Tilda Johnson, black women and scientists. The research demonstrated the presence of stereotypes linked to a dehumanizing profile in the plots, but there were also significant changes in the themes and representations of female scientists, which contribute not only to the questioning of the presence of critical and socially responsible scientific elements in cultural products, but also reinforce the importance of reflection and research on race, gender and science.