“Requis’s life as a dog” mirrors the reality of many Brazilians, immersed in a cycle of semi-abandonment and daily challenges amid the neglect of their communities. The protagonist, Requis, lives a daily life marked by constant fear – whether of the cart, lost bullets or family abandonment. This life of uncertainty and struggle for bonds and identity is the scenario where Marcelo Barbosa, psychoanalyst and resident of one of the largest favelas in Latin America, builds a series of short stories that explore crucial questions about mental health, identity and the impacts of reality on the psyche. human.
Barbosa, who intertwines his practice experiences with his life in the favela, uses the figure of Requis to criticize the Brazilian social structure, which marginalizes millions of citizens. In “Requis’s life as a dog”, the author not only demystifies the therapeutic process – often surrounded by prejudices – but also uses colloquial language and a fluid rhythm, interrupted by narrative cuts that mirror the protagonist’s internal confusion. The work, full of tragic and comical moments, challenges readers to reflect on mental health and the spaces available to understand people’s emotional and psychological complexities.
Through fiction, Marcelo Barbosa offers a penetrating look at human subjectivity, deeply influenced by the realities of violence, inequality and lack of attention to mental health. “Requis’s Dog’s Life” not only denounces these conditions, but also proposes a space for reflection on how society can and should deal with the feelings, emotions and internal psychological processes of its citizens.
How did your experience as a resident of one of the largest favelas in Latin America influence the creation of “Requis’s Dog’s Life”? Can you share any specific example of this experience that is reflected in the book?
Urban violence! I lived for three decades in Heliópolis, south of São Paulo, where I practically grew up with the construction of the favela. Land grabbing, invasion, occupation, sewage, shooting, death and search for housing was everything I experienced in those years. As a child, I was banned from leaving my street several times because drug dealers were fighting, I spent many nights sleepless with armed drug dealers on the roof of my house, I experienced several exchanges of gunfire between drug dealers and the Police, and the most shocking: at approximately 10 years old, he was playing arcade games in a bar, and machine gun fire began, where everyone in the place ran away. I was paralyzed! When I was leaving the room I saw a guy with two machine guns. He was laughing and looked at me. That never left my memory!
Requis is a character who constantly questions his identity. How did you decide on the choice of this name and the characterization of the protagonist, including his confusion between being a dog, a dinosaur or a person?
Requis, as he became known, is a very observant and inquisitive animal. He couldn’t find the world around him normal and began to feel uncomfortable. First, because of the disrespect he always suffered for having his name mispronounced: From Rex, to Requis. This happens mainly when they shout at him: “Requis!”, “Take it, Requis” etc. Even correcting people, his identity was violated, just like the place where he lived.
Requis, a dog, lives on the street. He does not have his own home. He doesn’t know what he’s going to eat and drink, when he eats, it’s from the trash, when he drinks, it’s from the sewage. He is not vaccinated, has no family and dignity. He has friends who suffer the same as him, and he seems to have the strength to survive. Requis, a dinosaur, has size and strength, but lives in a kill-or-be-killed world where he is untrained and has no family support. Requis, the human being, lives in the favela and finds his life unworthy, the life of an animal, a dog, meaningless. He is schizophrenic, he doesn’t know what his reality is, what it is, or what it is.
How did you intertwine your psychoanalytic practice with the narrative of Requis? What aspects of the neurotic tales directly reflect the mental health problems you encountered in the office?
Because of my origin, the relationship network I have involves many people who live in poor communities. Therefore, naturally, I saw patients from this social context. In several cases, when they talked about their childhood, information appeared about the poverty and violence suffered in the favela, which in some cases influenced the issues being treated in therapy, and sometimes the expressions appeared: “I have a life like a dog”, “my life is like an animal” etc. This led me to ethology, the study of animals and human beings, where I realized that the stray dog, quite common in communities, represented the favela itself in its dilemmas!
His book makes profound criticisms of the Brazilian social structure. What are the main messages you hope to convey about inequalities and violence in favelas through the story of Requis?
Since no one should live in an irregular urban structure in Brazil, this historical correction should have happened a long time ago. That inadequate social spaces, in addition to physical suffering, cause psychological illnesses, and that we must have a smart city agenda for favelas with decent housing.
You mentioned wanting to demystify the therapeutic process. What prejudices about mind care have you encountered and how does “Requis’s Life as a Dog” address and deconstruct these prejudices?
In general, the idea is to show that therapy is not something for crazy people, it is not something for rich people, that everyone needs treatment and how much people who live in environments with irregular structures suffer physical and mental damage. Requis will present this throughout its trajectory, calling for social and mental justice.
The work is described as having a fluid rhythm and colloquial language, but with cuts in the narrative. How does this structure and narrative style contribute to representing the protagonist’s internal confusion and the complexity of life in the favela?
The structure of the text was designed to lead the reader to “incorporate” Requis’ life or even enter his mind, feel his pain, fears, joy-sadness, comedy and perplexity, which involves the life I had in the favela.
“Requis’s Life as a Dog” mixes tragic and comical moments. How do you balance these elements to address such serious topics as violence and inequality, and how important is this balance for the narrative?
The mixtures of feelings and concepts represent life in an irregular and violent place. When one experiences social ills, one accepts death or seeks some way to see joy in sadness, and this is where balance appears in the text.
What were the biggest challenges you faced in writing this book, especially when trying to combine your personal experiences, those of your patients, and the need to create engaging fiction?
Maintain the confidentiality of the analysand’s therapeutic care. For ethics, I would not expose any patient, and at the same time, due to the similarity of psychological suffering, I was also talking about myself.
What was the initial reception of the book among readers and critics? Was there any reaction or feedback that particularly struck or surprised you?
This is my fourth literary experience. Before publishing, I present the work to potential audiences and receive the feedback I imagined. In general, I hear that the book is very “crazy” and “crazy”. What surprised me most was hearing that the book “is very funny” The work was in the drawer. I was waiting for the right moment and that was when Lei Paulo Gustavo appeared in my city Ferraz de Vasconcelos, where I signed up and was selected.
What are your next literary projects? Do you intend to continue exploring themes related to psychoanalysis and Brazilian social reality in future work?
I’m producing a literary product about childhood prejudice, where I’m going to draw a lot from psychoanalysis. But, writing slowly and without pretensions. I’m a little tired of talking about favelas, since there really aren’t any changes, but I’ve been feeling that the format of neurotic tales could continue. The future will tell!
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