A produção de sentidos acerca do Conflito/Massacre de Alto Alegre-MA

Abstract

This study analyzes, from the perspective of Materialist Discourse Analysis, the production of meanings related to the conflict/massacre of Alto Alegre, Maranhão (MA), which took place in 1901 in the southern region of the state. The aim of the study is to examine how the discourses that narrate the event construct subject positions, activate discursive memories, and produce meaning effects, thereby revealing ideological disputes and historical silencing. To this end, two main works are analyzed: O Massacre do Alto Alegre (Monza, 2018 [1909]), which presents the missionary perspective, and Caiuré Imana, o Cacique Rebelde (Cruz, 1982), which offers a literary narrative of Indigenous resistance. The research further highlights that naming the event as either a conflict or a massacre is not a neutral choice, but rather the result of a discourse that portrays Indigenous peoples as rebels or savages and missionaries as civilizers or martyrs, thus, to some extent, legitimizing colonial violence. The analysis also emphasizes the role of silence in the exclusion of Indigenous voices. It is concluded that the event remains a matter of discursive dispute, and that meanings are constantly reshaped by different discursive formations