Mars factions

narrative and discourse about the daily war in the pages of Mercurio Portuguez (1663-1666)

  • Daniel Pimenta Oliveira de Carvalho Mestre em História Social pela Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, atualmente cursa o doutorado pela École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales de Paris, com bolsa do CNPq.
Keywords: Portuguese Restoration, periodic press, narratives of war

Abstract

In Mercurio Portuguez, a monthly periodical written by the Portuguese secretary of State, Antonio de Sousa de Macedo, between 1663 and 1666, during the government of Alphonse VI, most of its news portrayed the events of the Restoration’s war, fought since 1641 against Castile. About this conflict, the historiography has shown its great impact on the lives of people from border areas, plagued daily by looting raids, skirmishes, and other small military exploits. This article wants to demonstrate how the narratives of these minor successes had great relevance for the construction of Macedo’s political discourse, and even for its transformation over the four years of publication. If the initiative to print a journal reveals the political intention of influencing the opinion circulating in Portugal, in Mercurio’s approach on this war of small everyday feats we find crucial elements of his discursive strategies.

Published
2020-06-15
Issue
Vol 10 No 19 (2014): Revista Navigator - Dossiê Defesa, política, trajetórias sociais e fluxos mercantis no Antigo Regime
Section
Dossie