Racism and the Constitution of an Ideological Sign of Resistence

ABSTRACT This article aims to understand the dissemination and consolidation of an ideological sign of resistance, starting with the analysis of a verbal-visual utterance, a photo reportage published in the Portuguese newspaper Expresso. That reportage, through a series of photographs and a brief text, shows a demonstration in Lisbon, in June 2020, against the murder of George Floyd, by police officers, in the USA. The Dialogical Discourse Analysis, grounded in the work of Mikhail Bakhtin and the Circle, is the theoretical and methodological basis for this article, which mobilizes the notions of ideological sign and dialogic relations. Starting with one of the photos referred to in the title of the reportage, the analysis raised meanings produced in the various axiological dialogues among spatially and temporally distinct statements, using words, images, and gestures shared during the protest demonstrations. The dialogic chains of statements show how a discourse of resistance to racism and other social inequalities is constituted, and expressed in an ideological sign.

摘要 本研究旨在理解某一抵抗性意识形态符号的传播与巩固，分析起点为一则言语-视觉话语（verbal-visual utterance）——发表于葡萄牙报纸《Expresso》的摄影报道。该报道通过一系列照片与简短文字，展现了2020年6月里斯本民众抗议美国警察杀害乔治·弗洛伊德的活动。本研究的理论与方法论基础为扎根于米哈伊尔·巴赫金（Mikhail Bakhtin）及其学派（Bakhtin Circle）研究的对话话语分析（Dialogical Discourse Analysis），并运用了意识形态符号与对话关系两大核心概念。研究以该报道标题提及的其中一张照片为切入点，分析抗议活动中共享的言语、图像与手势所构成的、跨越时空的不同言说间的各类价值论对话所产生的意义。对话性言说链条揭示了反种族主义及其他社会不平等抵抗话语的建构路径，以及该话语如何以意识形态符号的形式得以表达。