Women’s Memories of the Armed Struggle in Brazil and in Portugal

Abstract

Literature and cinema can serve as historical documents, bearing potent testimonial content that aims to transmit the experiences and memories of those who have lived them. This analysis centers on the narrative of women who were active participants in armed organizations during the military dictatorship in Brazil and the Salazar dictatorship in Portugal, between the end of the 1960s and the beginning of the 1970s, and that later chose to make public their memories and experiences. Two works are analyzed: the 1989 documentary Que Bom te ver viva [How Nice to See You Alive] by Brazilian filmmaker Lucia Murat, and the 2012 book Mulheres de Armas: História das Brigadas Revolucionárias [Women in Arms: History of the Revolutionary Brigades], by Portuguese journalist Isabel Lindim. The testimonies presented in these works make explicit the differences in the political processes experienced in the two countries, as well as the specificity of histories and memories narrated by the women who were interviewed. These differences are not only indicative of the distinct political characteristics of the two countries but also reflect the specific contexts of remembrance at stake in the book and film under analysis.