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Abstract

The author discusses the aesthetic effects of the “shock of the real” and how it emerges in specific realist films and literature that portray urban experiences in contemporary Brazil. In the midst of the violence, image overflow, and uncertainty of many Brazilian cities, realist productions provide an interpretative pedagogy of the “real.” Although they attempt to forge a connection between lived experience and representation, contemporary realist registers not only rely on former depictions of Brazilian “reality” but also make use of genres that have become available through the global circulation of the media, such as the detective novel, the gangster film, and the dirty realism of the mean street narratives and visual images.

Keywords

aesthetics of realism urban scenarios shock of the real

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The Shock of the Real

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