Memory of the years of lead in brazilian cities

Abstract

The present article analyzes the relation between memory, history and society in urban space in Brazil, in particular the disputes surrounding places of memory that are a throwback to the Civil-Military Dictatorship (1964-1985). The political dimension of the practice of naming symbolic spaces in a manner that honors the dictatorship is the central theme of this work. The most important actions by the resistance took place in Brazilian cities, and marks remain in them of the recent history of the dictatorship. With the end of the regime of exception which started in 1964, historical wounds – as they were called - remained, chief among them the continued presence of marks of the authoritarian regime in street names, establishments and public spaces. More than a quarter of a century after the end of the authoritarian regime, designations of statues, streets, squares, public schools, and other public and private spaces still honor members of the military government, torturers and other collaborators of the regime.