Tyson, Obama and a new Cosmos: A brief analysis of black representation in science

Abstract

This paper aims to analyze the question of the representation of the black person in the audiovisual production of scientific dissemination Cosmos. For this, we selected as object the two seasons of the series, shown, respectively, in 1980 and 2014 - each with 13 episodes. We use as main theoretical reference the book Culture and Representation, by Stuart Hall. By comparing the two versions of the series, with Hall's work as a guiding basis, we intend to evaluate if Cosmos can be considered as an example of widening the plurality and diversification of this representation, breaking with certain stereotypes related to the race and ethnicity aspect in audiovisual production. of scientific dissemination. We present as a proposal a multimethodological analysis in line with a literature review, as well as draw some parallels between the object of analysis and other audiovisual productions that, somehow, also dialogue with the problematic of the article, relating the black and the scientific context.