From title to discourse

an introductory analysis of the book 'Essa Gente' by Chico Buarque

Abstract

This article seeks to understand the title "Essa gente" from Chico Buarque's work as a form of access to the discursiveness of the narrative. The objective is to undertake an analysis of the use of the anaphoric demonstrative "essa" (Cunha; Lindley, 2017), as well as the noun "gente" even before we can understand who the mentioned "gente" would be. We rely on the perception that such lexical combination indicates the social group about which the narrative revolves, generating a key to the discourse performed by it. It seems plausible to assume that the title alludes to "gente" in opposition to Chico's political-ideological position and, consequently, to his artistic-literary production. Methodologically, the research uses as a theoretical device the materialist analysis of discourse, specifically the postulations of Michel Pêcheux (1990; 2014). We mobilize the concepts of discursive formation (Haroche; Henry; Pêcheux, 2007), ideological formation, pre-constructed, effect of evidence (Pêcheux, 2014), and autonymic connotation (Authier-Revuz, 2013). As a result, we understand that the title materializes a discursive reference to the subject already there, who is addressed by an ideological formation categorized as reactionary.