In the forest, signs of a Brazilian holocaust: the photographic discourse of Yanomami agony

Abstract

This article analyze photography as an ideological sign, considering the resources used to construct the meaning of the photographs published by the press about the difficult situation experienced by the Yanomami. Such an approach mobilizes the resources used for the construction of meaning, considering that photos cannot create a moral position, but they can reinforce it and can help strengthen a still embryonic moral position. Photographs constitute a historical document for recording events. Although this historical document brings less information than, in fact, it contains reality, photography as an ideological sign is, at the same time, a reflection of reality and a material fragment of that reality. All manifestations of ideological creation and non-verbal signs produce non-discourses, as well as social practices. Based on a qualitative-interpretative approach, and anchored in the biblio- graphic review of authors such as Susan Sontag (2003/2004), John Berger (2017) and Volochinov (2021), the analysis showed that the ideological sign of Yanomami photographs is marked by their horizon historical and social. The elements that make up the images show the neglect, misery and abandonment of these people. The ideological signs of the photographs, in this scenario, have inter-individual significance and social value.