A life not to be told: in the paths of singularity

Abstract

A life not to be told: in the paths of singularity  Based on peculiar modes of observation and construction for the elaboration of narrative in research, the article analyzes the singular conditions of a homeless Brazilian woman without any documents for whom the establishment of personal or institutional bonds is difficult. The underlying research, carried out in 2015, 2016, and 2017, was guided by observation and frequent conversations, taking ethnobiography as inspiration. Following the daily routine of this street occupant became one of the initial ways to find out how, through such inhospitable survival in the urban space marked by inequality, it was possible to preserve regularity in actions, inventing special conditions to recreate "house" and "work". The methodological proposal of the article, drawing on the intersection of different knowledge fields (sociology, anthropology, and psychoanalysis), raises questions on how to incorporate the theme of singularity into research, stretching, to the limit, the possibilities of language and listening to social life in its most unexpected nuances.