We need to talk about Temer: the strangeness in the voice

Abstract

The Brazilian political moment in 2016 presents the opacity of the political discourse. The materialization of this discourse is produced in different forms of material existence. This study has as its objective to analyze Michel Temer’s voice, who was the Vice-President in Dilma Roussef’s Government. The analysis will focus on his first speech as Acting President. The analytical path of the study starts through the identification of the strangeness (ERNST, 2009) in the vocal materiality, which is understood as a discursive materiality with a different status: Michel’s voice produces an effect of failure in the ritual. We analyze, then, the sense effects produced by this sapped, choked voice, trying to relate it to the main interest in the French Discourse Analysis: the connection between ideology and unconsciousness.