Plunging into the underground: poverty and violent crime in contemporary Brazil

Exhaustive news coverage of violence and organized crime in Brazil, usually sensationalist in nature and designed for immediate impact, have contributed to banalizing the issue and stifling more in-depth reflection. However, the voices that are silenced by the mass media, find an outlet in another kind of journalism that aims to plunge into the reality of contemporary Brazil. Literary journalism has investigated this realm in minute detail, setting events in their proper context and revealing the everyday life of people who are directly affected by violent crime a world that is familiar to few outside the Brazilian slums. This article looks at the work of Brazilian journalist Caco Barcellos and analyses the literary techniques and procedures he employs in his book Abusado. The analysis of this book seeks to reveal another perspective on the issue of violent crime, which differentiates itself from the stigmatising view of poor people and slum-dwellers presented by the police, the State and the Brazilian elite.