Report about the forgotten: The favelados of Canindé in the work Quarto de Despejo, by Carolina Maria de Jesus

Abstract

This article aims to reflect on the dynamics of the relationships between the inhabitants of the Canindé slum and the slum-dwellers and their neighbors from nearby brick houses, primarily captured through the lens of Carolina Maria de Jesus in Quarto de Despejo, but also illustrated in some newspapers from the 1950s and 1960s. During this period, Brazil was experiencing a moment of effervescent growth, driven by developmentalist policies aimed at stimulating investment and the installation of international industries in the country. However, this effervescence was experienced unequally by the poorest population, especially in large metropolitan areas like São Paulo, the stage of this upheaval. In general, misery predominated in the slum shacks, triggering a series of frustrations and violences, both among the slum population and between them and their wealthier neighbors. Therefore, the proposed reflection could not be carried out without the support of works produced mostly by Black feminist women, addressing the intersection of three concepts for discussing Brazilian society since its inception: race, class, and gender.