abstract
In this article, I discuss the connections between the life and work of Elizandra Souza, a writer associated with the literary production of the periphery of São Paulo. Her life and work are seen through the lens of black feminist thought and of Latin American decolonial thinking. I argue that Elizandra takes as her point of departure a spiraling and sampled identity formation that crosses and expands the materiality of the book's page to build a bridge between music, literature and technology. In so doing, Elizandra establishes a political presence that erases and challenges the perception about the inhabitant of the periphery as a subject defined by lack. I also argue that one might not fully capture the meaning of Elizandra's work, nor of Brazil's contemporary periphery if a multiplicity of elements is not taken into account, such as: alternative mechanisms for community communication, hip hop culture and the saraus. Finally, I argue that her book Águas da cabaça challenges the centrality of male discourse that has prevailed in peripheral narratives, while also articulating a transnational bond with other afro-diasporic women writers across the Atlantic.
Keywords:
periphery; gender; hip hop; poetry; intersectionality