The Brazilian City as a Cultural Space

• Published in: Tempo social : revista de sociologia da USP Vol. 12; no. 1; pp. 29 - 46
• Main Author: Freitag-Rouanet, Barbara
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Portuguese
• Published: 01.05.2000
• Subjects: Art Works; Brazil; Cities; Cultural Pluralism; Culture; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Social History; Social Space; Urbanism
• ISSN: 0103-2070

Czech philosopher Vilem Flusser lived in Sao Paulo, Brazil, for 30+ years after having fled the Nazi occupation of Prague, Czechoslovakia. Here, his thesis that Sao Paulo did not deserve to be called a city because it lacked "an innovative cultural space, in spite of its rich & dynamic economy & political strength," is critiqued. The concept of city subjacent to Flusser's view is based on the model of the Greek polis & on prewar Prague. Flusser also values the "new codes" (of language, architectural, aesthetic, musical, & pictorial expression) that are parts of the multicultural influences on Brazilian history. Flusser's reasoning is analyzed & his thesis shown to have been formulated too hastily. Flusser, who is considered a postmodern Walter Benjamin, left Sao Paulo in the 1970s before the end of the dictatorship; he never got to see the great achievements of the Modern Art Biennial, nor the accomplishments of the Art & City at the end of the 1990s, based mainly on the microelectronic technologies of the digital era, the personal computer, & the Internet, which he praised as the "new languages.". 10 References. Adapted from the source document.