Enunciando expedições Wilson Seixas e os discursos das entradas e conquistas nos Sertões da Paraíba, na obra “O velho arraial de Piranhas (Pombal)” (1962-2004)

Abstract

The article investigates the book “O Velho Arraial de Piranhas (Pombal)” by the Brazilian writer Wilson Seixas, analyzing how it constructs discourses about expeditions of incursions and conquests that occurred in the Sertões of Paraíba, Brazil, during the colonial period. Starting from the premise that the discourses formulated by Seixas established peculiar and identity-related views on these events that marked the local history, we adopt the theoretical and methodological perspectives proposed by Foucault (1999; 2008), who understood enunciations and discursive formulations as categories capable of imposing specific versions of what they seek to define. In this sense, discourse analysis will be used here as a method to scrutinize the descriptions presented in the work, where we are concerned with the forms, intentions, and consequences of its enunciations. The descriptions regardings the incursions were mobilized, especially, with the purpose of depicting and particularizing the Sertões of Paraíba, while the statements about the conquests of these spaces served to exalt the individuals who promoted them, as well as the supposed contributions of portuguese colonization to the sertões.