Preamble Narratives and Social Memory - Universidade do Minho

Journalistic Narrative: a Story of Real LifeMiriam Bauab PuzzoBrum’s strategy is to provoke critical reflection, causing impact in the reader, placinghim in his social reality. This way, the reporter role is fulfilled in an intense and provocativeway though it runs opposite of the mainstream media. Thus she breaks the paradigm ofobjectivity and impartiality as the press pattern.By publishing them in Zero Hora, widely circulated newspaper in a Brazilian capital,Porto Alegre city, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brum challenged the model, changed thestyle of their reports and risked being disqualified as a journalist. Many critics consider herreports as chronic instead of a journalist report. On the back cover of the book, such classificationappears: “She is a reporter in search of events which are not popular and peoplewho are not celebrities. She is a reporter in search of the extraordinary anonymous life. Sheis a writer who delves into the daily routine to prove that there are no ordinary lives.”However, the journalist role is determined by the investigation, the recovery of realpeople’s life story and actual data resulting from research. This way it gets far from thechronicles. Journalists, like Ricardo Kotscho, attach Eliane to the role of a great reporter,following old concepts, when the reporters sought to enhance the human side of the factsreported. “By reading what Eliane writes today, no one can say that great reporters are nolonger produced as before”(Kotscho, 2006, p.177).As it can be seen, the generic model presents change from the past to the presentand from the present to the past as Bakhtin says. The genres are adapted to the needs ofthe historical moment and to the speaker’s communication proposal. Eliane Brum, againstthe current style of reporting, recovers patterns from the past and updates them in order tofulfill a role that is relegated to the background, to sensitize the reader’s eyes to the realitythat surrounds him. Just like any utterance, according to Bakhtin’s concept, her stories awaitfor the reader’s answer.Bibliographic referenceBakhtin, M./Volochinov (2006). Marxismo e filosofia da linguagem. (translated by Michel Lahud & YaraFrateschi Vieira), 12 th ed., São Paulo: Hucitec.Bakhtin, M (2003). Estética da criação verbal. (translated by Paulo Bezerra). 4 th ed., São Paulo: MartinsFontes.Bakhtin, M. (1990). Questões de literatura e de estética: a teoria do romance. (translated by Aurora F.Bernardini, José P. Júnior, Augusto Góes Júnior, Helena S. Nazário, Homero F. de Andrade), 2 nded., São Paulo: Hucitec.Benetti, M. (2007)A ironia como estratégia discursiva da revista Veja. Líbero, ano X – nº 20, dez. 2007,37-46.Brum, E. (2006.) Sinal fechado para Camila. In A vida que ninguém vê. Porto Alegre: ArquipélagoEditorial, pp. 124-128.Freeman, M. (2005). Fotografía digital de personas. (translated by Carme Franch), Tachen: Evergreen.Foucault, M. (1992). “Las meninas”, in As palavras e as coisas. (translated by Salma Tannus Muchail), SãoPaulo: Martins Fontes, pp. 19-31.Narratives and social memory: theoretical and methodological approaches143