Abstract

MASSUCHETTO JAZAR, Manoela  and  ULTRAMARI, Clovis. Cities and Literature: A Typological Essay for an Investigative Void. Territ. [online]. 2024, n.50, e11.  Epub Feb 29, 2024. ISSN 0123-8418.  https://doi.org/10.12804/revistas.urosario.edu.co/territorios/a.12991.

In this article, we approach literature as a complementary source to understand urban complexities, considering that literary narratives can explain and synthesize aspects of a city's experience, history, and culture, often unnoticed by quantitative and even qualitative technical analyses. From reading 65 literary books by Brazilian and foreign authors, we created a typology of possible representations of the city in literature. From this reading, six "type cities" emerged, which are commonly observed superimposed on reality: City-portrait, city-pseudonym, non-city, city-memory, city-metaphor and city-criticism. We conclude that this typological exercise will always be inconclusive, however, with the certainty that it constitutes an important tool to, at the same time, better understand our cities, encourage debate about them, and enrich investigative methods in the field of urban studies.

Keywords : Cities and literature; urban typologies; investigative void; urban cultural history; literary narratives.

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