Divorced, by Law: Discourses in Judicial Processes in Florianópolis (1977-1985)

Abstract

This article intends to discuss the first divorce processes (from 1977 to 1985), that were made possible by the Law 6.515, of 26.12.1977 (called the Law of Divorce), in Florianópolis, through the research made in the File and Memory Division, from the Judicial Bureau of Santa Catarina State. This research realizes how – in spite of the appellative speeches of the institutions to this juridical instance (principally the Catholic Church and the institutions connected to it), that cursed the danger of family dissolution and its traditional values – such law was created mostly to legalize already established familiar habits. It also analyzes how the couples, who had been separated for many years and had established a new union, asked for divorce with the objective of regularizing their civil situation, which had been, until that moment, at the edge of the law. Observing the juridical speeches, we noticed the reproduction of prescribed values to one and other gender, and the power relations underlying these statements.