Do “O cortiço” às favelas: o lugar do negro no Brasil em uma abordagem sócio-histórico-cultural paralela à obra “O cortiço” de Aluísio Azevedo

Abstract

This research consists of a comparative study of the social spaces provided to black people in Brazil during their time in the slums in the mid-19th century and in the favelas in the present day. It is a comparison of the past with the present, with regard to the conditions of black people in Brazil. Thus, the focus is on the socioeconomic and cultural analysis of the spaces covered in order to reconstruct the image of black people in society during this period, discovering how the place of residence can suffer stigmas and decode prejudices pre-established by the dominant classes, in a process of creation and accentuation of prejudices. Therefore, this monographic work relies on a historical and literary investigation, based on bibliographical reviews and supported by the work 5O Cortiço6, by Aluísio Azevedo, in order to portray the reality of the time to construct the representation of the slums in the urban scenario and also the view attributed to this location as belonging to the less developed classes and considered dangerous. This construction also deals with how these forms of repression and prejudice continue to be present in Brazilian society, approaching the favelas as a place of continuity for the propagation of stereotypes and perversion of the imaginary of criminality and discrimination of the black community present equally in history and literature.