The commemoration speeches of the '1964 Revolution'

Abstract

The article discusses relevant aspects of the commemoration speeches of the '1964 Revolution,' made by the Brazilian military between 1964-1999. During these years, they sought to explain the reasons for the the coup d'état, the structuring of the subsequent regime and its ending in 1985. The discursive matrixes assume contours of radicalism to justify the 31 March revolution in opposition to the 'Communist revolution' which was being carried out by the João Goulart government. The research material represents a significant 'place of memory,' leading the army to formulate hypotheses that nowadays still intend to legitimize a positive memory of the 'revolutionary' deeds. The aim of this study is, thus, to analyze concepts of history, and the meaning and the character of the commemorations, establishing regularities that might elucidate the structure of the authoritarian and anti-communist thought disputed in the field of memory for a specific appropriation of the past.