Copyright by Eliseo Josué Jacob 2014
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Copyright by Eliseo Josué Jacob 2014 The Dissertation Committee for Eliseo Josué Jacob Certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: The Gritty City: Representations of Male Youth in the Works of Ferréz, Sacolinha, Junot Díaz and Ernesto Quiñonez Committee: Sonia Roncador, Supervisor Jossianna Arroyo-Martinez Lorraine Leu Moore Omoniyi Afolabi João Camillo Penna The Gritty City: Representations of Male Youth in the Works of Ferréz, Sacolinha, Junot Díaz and Ernesto Quiñonez by Eliseo Josué Jacob, B.A.; M.A. Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin May 2014 Dedication To la reina del mar, my wife, Marina. Acknowledgements This project, along with my graduate studies, has been a long journey that could not have been completed without the patience and guidance of loved ones, friends, colleagues and professors that continually kept me on course amidst the challenges of completing my dissertation. First and foremost, I want to recognize and thank my entire dissertation committee: Sonia Roncador, Jossianna Arroyo-Martinez, Omoniyi Afolabi, Lorraine Leu and João Camillo Penna. My dissertation supervisor, Sonia Roncador, has been present throughout my entire training as a graduate student and has played a key part in the scholar I am today. Her detailed feedback and unwavering support has given me the boost I needed to conclude my studies. I have enjoyed our many discussions on the concepts laid out in my dissertation, which sparked new ideas and insights for this and future projects. I deeply appreciate her guidance. Jossianna Arroyo-Martinez’s enthusiasm for Caribbean literature and culture introduced me to the Latino writers included in this dissertation. For that, I am profoundly grateful. She has been a formative player in my academic studies during my time as a graduate student, and she has provided inspiration through the enriching discussions held in her courses. Niyi (Omoniyi) Afolabi has always opened his door to me. He has provided me with many new ideas on literature, Afro-Brazilian culture and Brazilian popular culture. I appreciate his mentorship and candor, which has allowed me to clearly understand the complexities of academia. v My time as Lorraine Leu’s understudy was extremely valuable and provided an important foundation for my development as a future professor and scholar. I cherish the opportunity that I had to work with her on her culture class focused on the city of Rio de Janeiro. That experience confirmed my passion for teaching and conducting research on urban literature and culture in Brazil. João Camillo Penna has supported me throughout the process of formulating and writing the dissertation. I appreciate his prompt responses and encouragement. Despite being in Brazil, I always felt I had immediate access to him and his ideas. Finally, I want to thank all of the remarkable writers and artists who I had the privildege of meeting in the periferia of São Paulo. They provided inspiration for this project. Dear to my heart, Binho and Suzi Soares opened their doors to me, a complete stranger, and welcomed me in as if I was one of their own. I never could have met so many people without Suzi and Binho. My long talks with Binho and Suzi’s provided me with a wealth of information on the rich literary and cultural history of the periferia. Rodrigo Ciríaco and his students invited me into their group where I had the privilege to witness the power of literature in the lives of urban youth. Rodrigo taught me how literature and activism can coexist through the many exciting projects he created. And I cannot forget about Sacolinha, who was always took time out his busy schedule to talk with me one-on-one. His infectious enthusiasm convinced me that this literary movement’s potential for social empowerment is real. vi The Gritty City: Representations of Male Youth in the Works of Ferréz, Sacolinha, Junot Díaz and Ernesto Quiñonez Eliseo Josué Jacob, Ph.D. The University of Texas at Austin, 2014 Supervisor: Sonia Roncador This dissertation examines the ways in which Ferréz Sacolinha, Junot Díaz and Ernesto Quiñonez negotiate the global subordination of diasporic subjects in São Paulo and New York. Through a street aesthetic of the urban underworld, these four writers explore social inequalities tied to race and social class in the urban periphery. In São Paulo, Ferréz and Sacolinha use the public transit system to examine the contained mobility of residents of the periferia. Through encounters with criminality, Ferréz critiques the image of the criminoso associated with the marginal space of the periferia. Sacolinha analyzes systemic inequalities through the cobrador’s use of the perua, which functions as a subversive tactic against governmental organizations. In New York, Junot Díaz and Ernesto Quiñonez address the marginalization of urban Latino youth on the streets of the inner city. Díaz complicates the fractured identity of Dominican American youth who experience stigma in relation to the U.S.’s black-white racial binary. By dissecting the relationship between crime and hegemonic social structures, Quiñonez traces Spanish Harlem residents’ colonized, racialized status as Puerto Ricans in New vii York. In the literary works of the four authors, young protagonists roam the streets, maintaining a macho demeanor to conceal their insecurities and to appear to others -- and more importantly to themselves -- as tough individuals who will not crack under pressure. The aggressive, fearless attitude that they embody allows them to survive the inner city streets. They face an endless cycle of suspicion, racial discrimination and lack of resources, which limits their chances for social mobility. viii Table of Contents Introduction: Street Literature in São Paulo and New York .................................. 1 Global Coloniality & Race ............................................................................. 6 Street Aesthetics ........................................................................................... 12 Chapter Overview ......................................................................................... 21 Chapter 1: Social Marginalization and Public Transit in Ferréz’s Novels ........... 25 Criminoso marginal ...................................................................................... 28 En Route: Marginalized Subjects & Public Transit .................................... 37 Conclusion .................................................................................................... 48 Chapter 2: Criminality and the Perua: Social Stigma in the Periferia ................. 50 Malandragem and Social Inequality in the Periferia .................................... 52 The Perua and Clandestine Transportation ................................................... 61 The Perua and Clandestine Employment ............................................ 62 The Terminal & The Ambulante ......................................................... 67 Conclusion .................................................................................................... 73 Chapter 3: Racial Desencuentros and Stigma: Dominican American Youth as the Perpetual Outsider ........................................................................................ 76 From Santo Domingo to New York: Divided Dominican identities ........... 78 Dominican American Youth and Alterity/Encounters with Difference ....... 94 Conclusion .................................................................................................. 101 Chapter 4: Urban Decay, Bodegas and Botánicas in Ernesto Quiñonez’s Novels103 The Social Context of Spanish Harlem ...................................................... 106 Social Mobility and Legitimacy ................................................................. 116 Bodega(s) ........................................................................................... 121 Botánicas ........................................................................................... 126 Conclusion .................................................................................................. 130 ix Conclusion: Peripheral Literatures in São Paulo and New York ........................ 132 References ........................................................................................................... 141 Videos, Films, Filmography .............................................................. 159 x Introduction: Street Literature in São Paulo and New York "race [is] an unstable and 'de-centered' complex of social meanings constantly being transformed by political struggle". - Omi and Winant 1986 What I have coined “dialectic of marginality” underscores a new form of relationship between social classes. It no longer favours neglecting differences, but rather brings them to the fore, refusing the uncertain promise of social reconciliation. In this context, it is important to clarify that the term “marginal” does not have necessarily and exclusively a derogative meaning, representing above all (although not exclusively) the majority of the population impoverished and excluded from the benefits of social progress. -João Cezar de Castro Rocha, “Dialectic of Marginality” This dissertation examines the ways in which the literary works of Ferréz and Sacolinha, Afro-Brazilian writers, and Junot Díaz and Ernsesto