Considerations on a deviant art: Raymond Williams' analytical contributions to the phenomenon of pixação

Abstract

This article aims to establish a theoretical discussion between Raymond Williams' conceptual apparatus — particularly regarding culture — and the formation of groups and the cultural process of pixação, a phenomenon that emerged in the city of São Paulo in the 1980s. Within this context, pixação is a particularly interesting object to examine through the lens of cultural materialism, given that it is a marginalized practice considered deviant by the social order (Becker, 2008). Analyzing pixação through Williams' theoretical-conceptual apparatus makes it possible to put into perspective how different social aspects impact pixação, which, when understood as a cultural phenomenon, can be analyzed within the social processes and formations that compose it.