Representation of homelessness in electronic journalism in verb-visual texts - violence in discourse in the Correio Braziliense newspapers (2011-2013)

Abstract

This paper discusses part of a research project aiming to investigate texts about homelessness published between 2011 and 2013 in the newspapers Correio Braziliense, O Globo and Folha de S. Paulo. In this paper, we analyze only the 95 texts published in Correio Braziliense crossing the themes homelessness and violence, and the 19 images that compose these texts. To organize data, we have used software for qualitative analysis, and textual analyses were driven by critical discourse analysis and the grammar of visual design. Taken together, the results suggest the naturalization of violence against the homeless population, in a rhetorical effect of distancing, which does not provoke empathy between those who read the newspaper and the victims of the represented violence.

Keywords:
Critical discourse analysis; Homelessness; Violence; Cyber journalism