Emancipation and slavery in Brazil under a semiotic perspective

Abstract

This paper aims to analyse the semiotic forms underlying some discourses on slavery between the 16th and the 19th centuries in the territory nowadays known as Brazil. Considered as a semiotic theme, emancipation is analysed under the point of view of the modal category of “being-able-to” (pouvoir). The narrative oposition between transitive and factitive relations leads to reflexions about the status of enslaved individuals in this context. The discussion will be presented based on juridical, academic and police investigation texts written in different geographic and historical contexts.