Análise da construção do ethos nos discursos dos candidatos ao cargo de conselheiro tutelar no Instagram no município de Teresina em 2023

Abstract

The position of Conselheiro Tutelar (Child Protection Councilor) stems from an administrative policy in which the city of Teresina, through a Municipal Law, establishes the organization of the electoral process for selecting new councilors. On this occasion, candidates made use of Instagram to disseminate their speeches with the purpose of presenting their own profiles and self-images, that is, their Ethos. Based on this context, this research has the general objective of investigating the construction of Ethos in the speeches of candidates for the position of Conselheiro Tutelar on Instagram in the municipality of Teresina in 2023, in order to understand how self- image is built to influence voters’ opinions, as well as how candidates construct their image through discursive strategies. The analysis focuses on posts from four candidates. The study develops through specific objectives, which are: to identify the linguistic and discursive markers used in the candidates’ posts that indicate the Ethos element; to analyze the strategies employed to build Ethos in order to persuade the public; and to compare the different forms of Ethos construction among the candidates analyzed, based on their speeches. The theoretical framework is grounded in Orlandi (1999), Brandão (2004), and Barbi Cardoso (2010) on Discourse Analysis, as well as Maingueneau (2008), Amossy (2003), and Fiorin (2015), who discuss discursive Ethos, argumentation, and the elements Ethos, Pathos, and Logos, among others. The corpus consists of speeches in posts made during the electoral period, aimed at presenting the candidates’ proposals and raising public awareness. This is a qualitative, descriptive, and bibliographic research, involving analytical reading, research on digital media, selection of posts, and discourse analysis focused on the construction of Ethos. The results indicate that Instagram enhances the circulation of political discourse and diversifies persuasive strategies, with Ethos being a central element that makes it possible to visualize the candidates’ image and credibility. We conclude that Ethos contributes to establishing a connection with voters, enabling candidates to build a positive public image and increase their chances of electoral success.