From Memory to Testimonial Narrative

An Analysis of A Sirene Newspaper as a Discourse of Resistance Against Mining

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the newspaper A Sirene as a producer of testimonial narratives that constitute discursive practices of resistance by the populations affected by the Samarco dam burst (Mariana) in 2015. Nearly a decade after the event, the newspaper remains a tool for preserving memory and mobilizing these communities against the hegemonic power of the mining companies (Samarco/Vale and BHP Billiton) and the ongoing impunity regarding effective reparation for the damages caused by the largest socio-environmental crime in Brazil’s history. At a time when many of these communities are discussing the New Reparation Agreement, approved in November 2024, it is both relevant and timely to analyze the testimonial discursive strategies employed by the affected populations and published in this newspaper, which has become their main means of communication and resistance against oblivion, trauma, and injustice. The theoretical and methodological framework draws on categories from different approaches, highlighting the concept of affected individuals/affected populations (Gomide et al., 2018; Souza; Carneiro, 2019), the relationship between the notions of memory (Ricoeur, 2007; Paveau, 2015) and testimony (Amossy, 2004, 2011;  Tocaia, 2024; Seligmann-Silva, 2010; Nascimento, 2007), and their articulation with the pragmatic analysis of narrative (Motta, 2013; Ricoeur, 1994).The methodology is characterized as a qualitative approach of heuristic nature, based on excerpts selected from the newspaper in question.