The discursive construction of hate in “cacerolazos” (Argentina) and “panelaços” (Brazil): common patterns and differences

Abstract

The objective of this work is to show how the expressions of hate speech contained in the statements made in the manifestations against the government of Cristina Kirchner and Dilma Rousseff, known as “Cacerolazos” (2012-2014) and “Panelaços” (2015-2016) represent this process. The corpus of the work consists of posters and spontaneous testimonies of the participants of both manifestations that will be analyzed through comparisons of the statements, pointing to the thematic, discursive and semiotic regularities used to express impoliteness in the respective political events. The use of hate sentiment as a discursive resource lately seems to have been used in various countries as a political tool and, for this reason, the study of this phenomenon is justified in an attempt to understand the similarities and differences of its operation. In the theoretical foundation, we will use the concepts of impoliteness given by Marlangeon (2005), and the ideological polarization “Us” vs. “them” described by Van Dijk (2005). We will see how similar, sometimes mirror-like speeches have been performed as a reactive expression to social situations in both countries, even though they have different socio-historical formations, and finally, in the considerations, we emphasize the form in which the polarization is built.