A força da memória: lembranças de situações de ferimento, tensão e morte

Abstract

In this text I analyze the continuity of life for people who have experienced some type of contact with death caused by third parties, either directly or indirectly. More specifically, I research indirect victims assisted by the Support Center for Road Traffic Victims (Núcleo de Apoio a Vítimas de Trânsito), of the Rio de Janeiro State Road Traffic Department (Detran- RJ); military police officers carrying out administrative work – internally to a Military Police Headquarter in the State of Rio de Janeiro (BPM-PMERJ) – due to experiences of extreme tension and danger lived on the streets; and wheelchair users and athletes training in the Reborn, to Serve and Protect project (Renascer, Servir e Proteger), which functions at the PMERJ Center of Training and Improvement of Lower Rank Police Officers (Praças), assisting both civilians and police officers. I explore how the experiencing of situations of severe danger and tension causes present effects to people, discussing how their memories act in the interpretation and in the perception of current situations. Thus, I outline the components of memory (which I call actancial memory) regarding the proximity with death, such as images-remembrances and affective tonalities, acting on their present actions and generating different effects in their lives, which people may see as changes in themselves. I also map out, through the memory, worldviews built or reinforced after experiencing situations of contact with death, in which people find themselves surrounded by an imminent danger (hostile world) or an extreme demotivation (painful world). I seek to map, likewise, the different moral metaphysics guiding such worldviews, that is, the frames of reference containing meanings constituted and mobilized by people, being projections that serve as a guide for their actions. Thus, it was possible to understand different ways of experiencing grief and the possibilities of building “better futures”. The research was carried out as a Grounded Theory, constituted through observation, comprehensive interviews and gathering of reports.