Brasilia — Brazilian Saint Petersburg?

Abstract

Based on the concept of “text of the city”, formulated in the works of Yuri Lotman and Vladimir Toporov within the studies undertaken by Tartu-Moscow Semiotic School in the decades of 1970–1980s, the article considers the possibility of tracing some similarities between the Petersburg text of Russian culture and the text of the capital of Brazil — the city of Brasilia — in Brazilian culture. In particular, we are talking about the chronicle “In the early beginnings of Brasilia” (1970) by Clarice Lispector, which reflects the first impressions of the Brazilian writer from the newly built capital. The texts of St. Petersburg and Brasilia seem to us to be similar semiotic structures. One can note the presence of the binary opposition city-nature, the mythologization of the foundation of the city and its creators, the motive of its artificiality and ideal visibility. However, there are significant differences between the texts of both capitals. In the case of the Brazilian capital, this is a relatively recent text, so there are significantly fewer works in which this city is mentioned. The geographical position is also a significant difference: for example, St. Petersburg is a border city, while Brasilia is located in the center of the country. That is why, while eschatological motifs predominate in the Petersburg text, Brasilia’s text clearly expresses the connection between earth and sky, which is characteristic of concentric cities.