Towards Self-Criticism: Reflections and Resignifications of Guerrilla Experiences in Brazil (1969–1980)
Warfare. Jail. Exile. New Democracy.Left parties.
The research presented here sought to analyze the reflections made by Brazilian
guerrilla movements about their role in the armed struggle in different socio-spatial
places. Four distinct spaces were selected: the prison, the exile, the institutional spaces
of the alternative press and the space for the formation of the Workers' Party. It is
assumed that each of these spaces mentioned had an impact on the processes of review,
rearticulation and transformation of the proposals made by leftist organizations in Brazil
in the same way that the presence of militants of the armed struggle in these spaces also
affected the political constructions of these new spaces. We sought to specifically
analyze how the guerrillas read their armed actions as well as identify the moments in
which the proposed struggle or even the political ideology came to be questioned and
rearticulated in new ways. As it composes what can be understood as traumatic
memory, the choice was made to use a theoretical-methodological framework anchored
in the reflections of the History of the Present Time, inserting object and subject in the
same chronological space. Reflections on the relationship between History, Memory
and Trauma were also mobilized in order to promote a more diverse reflection on the
incidence of the multiple temporalities that emerged during the analysis.