Sustentabilidade e risco: um estudo multimodal sob o viés dos sistemas complexos

Abstract

Sustainability and sustainable development have never been discussed so much as in the current scenario of contemporary communication. However, we can observe that this discourse has become so natural that it has turned into common sense, being used, manytimes, as a discursive strategy in various texts, such as advertisements, newspapers articles and political essays. In this context, the aim of this masters thesis is to reflect about the sustainability discourse based on a multimodal study of five articles published in five editionsof the magazine Guia Exame de Sustentabilidade. To achieve this aim, the investigation of the potential meanings produced by the semiotic modes used in the articles was based on the theoretical perspective of the Systemic Functional Grammar (HALLIDAY; MATTHIESSEN,2004) and of The Grammar of Visual Design (KRESS; VAN LEEUWEN, 2006), also having as a guide the discussions about Reflexive Modernity (BECK; GIDDENS; LASH, 1997), the Paradigm of Complexity (MORIN, 2011; VASCONCELLOS, 2002) and about The Theory ofComplexity (HOLLAND, 1995; LARSEN-FREEMAN; CAMERON, 2008). The results of the analyses indicate that the verbal and visual configurations applied by the editors of the corpus articles contribute to the sustainability discourse, since they value the representationsof corporations that, when they assume a sustainable position, are able to reduce the environmental impact of their actions. However, it is observable that the discursive space provided for the representation of the corporations in the articles is filled with discoursesmuch more dedicated to marketing than to the awareness of their readers about the importanceof sustainability. We can also observe that what the magazine and the corporations understandby sustainability is far from being an ideal model.