Heterotopias and heterochronies: the challenges of the ethnography of duration in Brazilian cities (dialogues with Michel Foucault)

The article talks about the “heterotopias” and “heterochronias” based on studies of ethnography of duration (Eckert & Rocha, 2013b) in the context of large Brazilian metropolises. We propose a reflection especially in relation to the work Des espaces autres (1967) by Michel Foucault (1984) in which the author criticizes the cumulative conception of time for the understanding of the contemporary world. According to the author, the current epoch is more related to space than to the accumulation of time, because the experiences of juxtaposition and simultaneity are opposed to the experiences of linear and progressive time proposed by the modern epistème. In opposition to the use of heterotopias as a way of neglecting the importance of “heterochronias”, this writing proposes a critical incorporation of Foucault's heterotopology into the studies of the ethnography of duration in contemporary urban spaces.