ESTRATÉGIAS RETÓRICAS DA PERSUASÃO NO EDITORIAL EM TEMPOS DE PANDEMIA – UM ENFOQUE DA LINGUÍSTICA SISTÊMICO FUNCIONAL

This study examines the persuasive power of a newspaper editorial considering the interaction of lexicogrammatical linguistic choices and the evaluative positions responsible for the construction of rhetorical strategies in the flow of meaning with the purpose of persuading the reader. The editorial examined “The false crises, and the true one” deals with the government's inertia in the face of the challenges caused by the coronavirus pandemic in Brazil. The objective of this article is the linguistic examination of how evaluative positions are defined to convince the reader about the values ​​expressed in the text. Thus, with the contribution of Systemic-Functional Linguistics (SFL), a theoretical-methodological proposal, of the critical analysis of metaphor, an intersection between critical discourse analysis, the theory of conceptual metaphor and some persuasion resources, we intend to answer the following research questions: (a) How is persuasive rhetoric used to construct and disseminate the narrative that certain crises are 'false'? (b) How does the discursive construction of the editorial use persuasive strategies to promote reader reciprocity with the (ideological) values ​​shared in the newspaper? This article contributes to the understanding of how language, in newspaper editorials, is used as a tool for persuasion and shaping public opinion, especially in times of crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Research shows that the support of various rhetorical strategies allows the editorial to manage ideological positions, influencing political proposals, values, and practices.