La favela como espacio de exclusión social en la ciudad de Rio de Janeiro

Abstract

Nowadays, the favela makes up part of the urban imagery of Rio de Janeiro, but it has not always characterized the city. It is the product of a whole set of transformations the city experienced during the last century, and which include political, geographic, economic, and social aspects. After presenting the geography, history and symbolism inherent in this city, the article briefly describes these transformations. The main objective is to develop an initial analysis of the setting for the Brazilian novels Ciudad de Dios and Infierno. Finally, the article attempts to sketch the role that the authors play in the logic of social exclusion. Exclusion, the main consequence -and simultaneously the main cause- of the favela, is addressed from the systems theory point of view, since it conceives society as a system that describes itself by its functionally differentiated character. © EURE.