A representação das guerrilheiras do Araguaia pelo jornal O Estado de S. Paulo (1966-2023)

Abstract

This study examines how the newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo reported on female participation in the Araguaia Guerrilla during the years 1966 to 2023. In total, 25 articles related to the 18 female guerrillas of Araguaia were published in the Politics section of the Brazil edition of the newspaper. These numbers demonstrate that the women who fought in the Araguaia Guerrilla, even after the end of the dictatorship and the periods of censorship imposed by it, do not frequently appear in one of the country's largest media outlets. The methodology adopted in this work is mainly based on French-inspired Discourse Analysis (DA). It is also anchored, in its theoretical foundation, in feminist studies. It presents gestures of critical analysis of articles from Estadão newspaper regarding the role of women in the Araguaia Guerrilla. When investigating how one of the country's most influential publications considered the role of women in its coverage of these women, it becomes clear that most of the articles, written by male journalists, provide few details about the lives and backgrounds of the activists. In many cases, only their first names are mentioned without further details. Furthermore, when the female guerrillas are present, they are usually associated with figures of their comrades (in many cases also guerrillas) or described in the words of their tormentors, as is the case in the many interviews given by Major Sebastião Curió de Moura to the newspaper giving the "official" version of the facts.