Dom Sócrates and the Diretas Já movement: The stated and implied meanings in the Placar magazine’s discourse

This paper investigates the discursive mechanisms present in issue 727 of Placar magazine, published in April 1984, which portrayed footballer Sócrates as Dom Pedro I amid the Diretas Já campaign. Based on French Discourse Analysis, with emphasis on Oswald Ducrot’s theory of explicit and implicit meaning, the study examines how the magazine constructs ideological positions through verbal and non-verbal elements. The methodology involves identifying and categorizing utterances into explicit statements, presuppositions, and implications, following Moura’s (1999) framework. The results show that Placar used Sócrates’ public image to promote a narrative of political engagement, drawing symbolic parallels with Dom Pedro I and the historical Dia do Fico. The discussion highlights that journalistic discourse, far from being neutral, functions as a tool for social mobilization and the construction of political imaginaries, underscoring the media’s role in Brazil’s democratization process.