Landscape as memory: territorial journeys of the black poet Oswaldo de Camargo

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the life trajectory and literary production of Oswaldo de Camargo, highlighting his relevance as a Black intellectual and narrator of the cities. The research articulates orality, memory, and literature to understand how the territories and landscapes through which the author moved—from towns in the interior of São Paulo state, such as São José do Rio Preto, Poá, and Bragança Paulista, to neighborhoods such as Limão, Perdizes, and Lauzane Paulista in the city of São Paulo—shaped his experiences and permeated his writing. The methodology includes an interview with the author, literary analyses, affective mapping of the places where he lived, and theoretical references from ethnic-racial studies and urban Black territorialities. Through the intersection between personal memory and social critique, the study observes how orality functions as a tool of resistance and a mode of knowledge production. The results highlight the author’s erasure within the literary canon despite his historical and intellectual importance, revealing the contrast between the affective experiences of his childhood in the interior and the impacts of racism encountered in the state capital. The study reinforces the importance of listening to and mapping the life histories of Black individuals as a means of valuing and disseminating their narratives, their territories of belonging, and their landscapes of memory.