Mentira ou verdade? Marcas prosódicas assinalando sentidos no discurso do tribunal do júri

Abstract

This study is affiliated to the Discourse Analysis of pecheuxtian tradition, theory which does not conceive meanings in its literal way, not even subjects as the origin of the saying, since they are within the ideology domain and are affected by the unconsciousness functioning. It is through such a perspective that we analyze the juridical discourse of the defense in a trial by jury. On the one hand, this discourse is subordinated to the rules of Law which induce to the illusion of freedom and equality among individuals by using laws, rituals and specific discursive mechanisms. Such mechanisms translate the supposed neutrality and objectivity of the text of the law, which seeks, through the "literalness" of signifiers and the determination of rights and duties inherent to social life, to bequeath to the individual a supposed security. On the other hand, given the need of argument in favor of the defendant of the case at hand, the defense s discourse invests itself of a subjectivity (represented) in a game of making believe. This game is affected by the affective-prosodic-discursive memory, theoretical notion whose claim is to consider, in the interdiscursivity dimension, the effects of prosody that are irrevocably linked to affectivity and, therefore, subjectivity. In this context, it grows the importance of the question concerning the "truth" and the "lie", fundamental focus of this study, which has sought to conceive them in their discursive dimension. For such, we have initially taken a journey through different areas of knowledge towards the re-significance of the mentioned question, considering the assumptions of Discourse Analysis. Having done this theoretical demarcation, we sought, in the analysis, by observing the prosodic materiality, to understand the effects of meaning, derived from a struggle discourse, whose purpose is to prove the defendant s innocence. The analyses have revealed the functioning of the discursive processes involved in the argument of the defense, showing, through the prosodic elements, the effects of "truth" and "lie" that have been made present