Abstract
This comparative study of the works Não falei (2004) by Beatriz Bracher and Azul-corvo (2012) by Adriana Lisboa aims to analyze the representations of the responsibility-transfer mechanisms from the State to ordinary citizens, for crimes against humanity committed during the period of military dictatorship in Brazil. Building on the thoughts of Žižek (2012ŽIŽEK, Slavoj (2012). Violence: la violence n’est pas un accident de nos systèmes, elle en est la cause. Paris: Au Diable Vauvert.), we will take a look at how individuals, through the roles of informant and defector, are liable for acts of “subjective violence” committed by the regime, disregarding a primordial “systemic violence.” Taken from a logical causal context, these acts are matched and judged outside the legal system, analyzed within the personal spheres, according to affective and moral judgements. In the light of Ricœur’s (2000RICŒUR, Paul (2000). La mémoire, l’histoire et l’oubli. Paris: Seuil.) reflections on the abuses of oblivion, we will see how the “Amnesty Law” solidifies this alienating process that, in the interests of creating a national “imaginary unit,” dilutes all political crimes in a uniform amalgam of forgiveness. The Pollack’s (1993POLLAK, Michael (1993). Une identité blessée. Paris: Éditions Métaillié .) concept of “underground memory” will help us observe the existing abuse also within the wheelhouse of memory, by forcing the penetration of the collective into the casing of individual memories. Finally, we will show how the imaginary, point of contact between literature and history, according to White (1987WHITE, Hayden (1987). The content of the form. Narrative discourse and historical representation. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.), proves to be an essential resource for freely remembering or forgetting, harboring these “subterranean memories.”
Keywords:
military dictatorship; duty of memory; Araguaia guerrilla; torture