Marcos fundamentais da Literatura Periférica em São Paulo

Abstract

Literature from the outskirts of São Paulo is divided in two historical periods: a) Literatura Marginal (marginal literature), from 2000 to 2005, and b) Literatura Periférica (peripheral literature), from to 2005 to present days. The first phase had as starting point the release of the book Capão Pecado, from Ferréz, in 2000, a work much influenced by hip hop culture, particularly RAP. Its author was the main actor during this phase, also being its most important advocate, by coordinating several literary selections that allowed for the emergence of tens of authors. The second period is marked by the rise of the saraus (literary evenings), notably the Sarau da Cooperifa (literary evenings from Cooperifa). This collective published its anthology in 2005 and supported several other saraus into doing the same. Made possible, for most part, by public policies, around 200 books, both collaborative and single-authored, were released since then, shaping a vigorous cultural movement. However, as 12 years have passed, the label marginal and/or periférica have become inadequate to identify such literary practice. This article presents two hypothesis to overcome such problem. The first one is two contextualize Literatura Periférica as a dimension of popular urban culture, widening, as such, its range as cultural expression, without any detriment to its origin identification. The second one is of aesthetic order and implies the statement of search for quality as an imperative of creation. This challenge, however, requires the writers’ disposition to undergo critique, while at the same time a new critical paradigm that can attend to the specificity of such literature becomes a necessity.