Farce, tragedy, and news

Considerations on the political situation of Brazil in 1964 and 2016

Abstract

Brazil’s political life has been marked by recurring processes of institutional ruptures. These situations are complex and become especially sensible themes while closer to the present time. This paper aims to make a comparison between the civil-military coup in 1964 and the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff in 2016, scrutinizing the similarities and differences through the approach proposed by two newspapers: Folha de S.Paulo and Pioneiro. The newspaper from São Paulo has a national circulation and an unquestionable reputation. Pioneiro, newspaper that has a restrict circulation in the regional scope of the Serra Gaúcha, has an outstanding position for being to the editorial line of the RBS Group, connected to the Globo system of telecommunications. The paper is situated in an approach of the history of the present time and uses assumptions from the comparative history. Those interpellations have in the historical materialism their intersection point. This text attempts to highlight some aspects concerning the role of the newspapers in question in the construction of a narrative on the processes occurred in 1964 and 2016. Both editorial lines, in distinct moments, produced a discourse of rejection, criticizing and contesting both Goulart and Rousseff, evidencing certain political positions of opposition to the legitimately elected governments.