A batalha pela designação da cassação de Dilma Rousseff em 2016: “é golpe, golpe, golpe”

Abstract

In this study, I aim to investigate the functioning of the designation "coup" (golpe) within the discourse of the newspaper O Globo during 2016, whose coverage of the ouster of Dilma Rousseff (PT) revealed a discursive dispute between the denominations impeachment and coup. Drawing on the materialist theory of Discourse of Michel Pêcheux and Eni Orlandi, alongside Bethania Mariani's contributions regarding Journalistic Discourse, I propose to analyze the discursive materialities of this news outlet to comprehend the effects of meaning that reveal the relationship between language and Brazil's recent political history. Thus, I question the naturalization of the meanings of neutrality, which operates as an effect of the ideology that interpellates subjects and attempts to erase the character of rupture. O Globo was selected as the interface for the object of study—the discourse—due to its status as a newspaper of national reference, as well as its historical positioning as a relevant political actor in the context of the 1964 military coup. For this reason, the discursive sequences concerning the political crisis constitute the analytical corpus. The analysis involves identifying the effects of meaning capable of legitimizing (or not) certain designations to the detriment of others, thereby performing a pedagogical management of the tension between the designations impeachment and coup. O Globo discursively constructs a scenario of institutional normality and a need for a solution to a supposed crisis in the country. The meanings radiated across its news articles, editorials, and columns establish that the removal from office is a legitimate constitutional remedy, seeking to interdict or resignify the naming of "coup" as mere rhetoric or provocation on the part of the then president.