Banca de DEFESA: DILMA MARIA CAMPELO RIO VERDE

Uma banca de DEFESA de DOUTORADO foi cadastrada pelo programa.
STUDENT : DILMA MARIA CAMPELO RIO VERDE
DATE: 02/06/2025
TIME: 14:00
LOCAL: Virtual
TITLE:

Socio-discursive imaginaries and the construction of
self-images in life narratives of women with breast cancer

KEY WORDS:

discourse analysis; autobiographical narratives; breast cancer; ethos; socio-discursive imaginaries.

PAGES: 407
BIG AREA: Lingüística, Letras e Artes
AREA: Letras
SUMMARY:

This dissertation investigates the socio-discursive imaginaries and the construction of selfimages in life narratives of women diagnosed with breast cancer, articulating these
constructions with the socioeconomic conditions and discursive trajectories of the narrators.
The research interfaces the fields of medicine, Discourse Analysis, and Ethnosociology. The
main theoretical and methodological framework for the analysis of the corpora is the
Semiolinguistic Theory of discourse of socio communicational orientation, developed by
Patrick Charaudeau (1996, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010a, 2010b, 2011, 2017), in
articulation with other scholars such as Amossy (2008a, 2008b), Arnoux (2006, 2019, 2021),
Maingueneau (2008a, 2008b, 2015, 2020), Arfuch (2010, 2013), Bertaux (2005), Lessa (2013,
2019), Machado (1996, 2006, 2016, 2020), and Meccia (2020). Based on a qualitative approach,
the study analyzes narratives from two groups of women: the first, composed of
autobiographical authors with higher socioeconomic and cultural status, and the second,
composed of women assisted by the Association for the Prevention of Cancer in Women
(Associação de Prevenção do Câncer na Mulher - ASPRECAM) during oncological treatment
in the Brazilian Unified Health System (Sistema Único de Saúde - SUS), who face more
precarious socioeconomic and cultural conditions. The analysis addresses aspects such as fear,
sexuality, family and social relationships, access to information, inequalities in treatment,
coping strategies, and the symbolic meaning of illness. Starting from the understanding that
autobiographical narratives are practices of subjectivation and meaning-making, the research
examines how subjects discursively construct themselves from different conditions of
enunciation. The analysis of the ethé projected in the discourses revealed significant contrasts:
the autobiographies present symbolic elaborations, direct interpellations to the reader, and
public testimonies, unlike the narratives of the second group, which are marked by discourses
of religiosity, gratitude, and resistance. It is concluded that socio-discursive imaginaries
function as symbolic frameworks that influence the ways in which breast cancer is narrated,
felt, and faced. These frameworks produce meanings about the ailing body, permeate women's
subjective experiences, and reveal the effects of inequalities in the healthcare field. In both
groups, language emerges as a tool for healing, denunciation, and identity reconstruction. By
valuing these narratives, this research contributes to the recognition of the discursive power of
female voices and to the affirmation of listening and care as both ethical and political practices
in contexts of suffering.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
Interno - CLAUDIO HUMBERTO LESSA
Externa à Instituição - ELVIRA BEATRIZ NARVAJA DE ARNOUX
Presidente - LILIAN APARECIDA ARAO
Interna - MARIANA JAFET CESTARI
Externa à Instituição - RAQUEL LIMA DE ABREU AOKI - UFMG