Critical analysis of the narrative of the reportage series "Brasilia in the drought: a year without water

Abstract

This study focuses the news series "Brasilia na seca: um ano sem água", published between December 16 and 20, 2017, by the newspaper Correio Braziliense on its website. The objective of this study is analyzing the narrative about the water rationing between January and December 2017 at the Federal District (DF), where’s located the capital of Brazil, Brasília. This choice is due to the fact that studying narratives assists the understanding of who we are and how we represent the world and act in it. Such a narrative of the water crisis is focused on which perspective? In which way have causes that led the DF to this situation been presented? Is there polyphony of voices? Based on the Critic Narrative Analysis method, the study aims to present a reading of how Correio Braziliense structured this journalistic narrative and how issues involving water were addressed in this case of water crisis. In this analysis, it’s possible to see how the newspaper places population as a victim of the crisis and government authorities as guilty. Among identified metanarratives, it’s possible to perceive that the series diffused the following metanarrative: governmental failures generate bad consequences in the daily life of citizens.