DYSTOPIA AND CITY IN UM PIANO PARA CAVALOS ALTOS, BY SANDRO WILLIAM JUNQUEIRA

Abstract

The present work aims to analyze the city in a dystopian context in the work Um piano para cavalos (2012), by the contemporary Portuguese writer Sandro William Junqueira. City studies in the literature are relevant to reflect on social relations in an context of rapid transformations motivated by economic and political issues. The city, which was once considered a welcoming place, becomes a field of disputes with an increasingly segregating reality. The study is based on the view of Gregory Claeys (2017) e Tom Moylan (2016), regarding reflections on dystopia; Carl Abbott (2016), about dystopian city; for understanding the socio-spatial conflict, the vision of David Harvey (2014). An entropic city reaches its peak in contemporary times, especially with the presence of globalization, questionable political management, wars, aggressions to the environment, social control, among other problems. It is in this context that dystopian literature emerges, with the possibility of reflection on urban problems, through narratives that build potential scenarios from the current reality. The book A piano for tall horses, by Sandro William Junqueira, provides the dystopian metaphor of contemporary times, putting on stage a city based on social control and segregation that is imposed by zones, whose ruling class legitimizes privileges. In the face of this authoritarian scenario, a resistance group that provides a hopeful perspective, characterizing a strand of dystopian fiction called critical dystopia.