The misuse of professional historiography by historical denialism in Brazil in times of democratic crisis

the case of the Politically Incorrect Guide to Brazilian History

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to examine the specifics of historical denialism practiced by the Politically incorrect guide to the history of Brazil, both in its printed format, published in 2009, and in the adapted version for TV, in 2017. The hypothesis suggests that this type of denial abuses possible truths deloped by professional historiography, especially the topos of subaltern agencies. I seek theoretical inspiration in the concepts of “abusive history” and “manipulated memory”, proposed, respectively, by Antoon De Baets and Paul Ricoeur. The text is divided into three parts: first, I examine the abusive use of the topos of slave agency developed by the “new history of slavery” in the 1980s. And then, I do the same for the topos of indigenous agency, developed by the “new indigenous history”. ”
in the 1990s. I demonstrate how abusive use is motivated by ethically repulsive political purposes that intend to deny the need for reparatory public policies aimed at historically oppressed social groups. In conclusion, I present a proposal theoretical/political of confront to face this type of historical denialism.