Historical Memories of Great Brazilian Events: Group Variations in Position-Taking

The historical past of a given nation is interpreted in divergent ways by different social groups within a society. This study investigated group variations in position-taking toward major Brazilian historical events. A total of 420 Brazilians answered an online questionnaire in which they evaluated their emotions concerning ten events in Brazilian history: Arrival of the Royal Family, Independence of Brazil, Abolition of Slavery, Proclamation of the Republic, Brazilian Military Regime, Free Vote Movement, 1988 Federal Constitution, Real Plan, Covid-19 Pandemic, and 2022 Presidential Election. The responses were analyzed in RStudio using Latent Profile Analysis, a method aimed at identifying subgroups within a sample based on patterns of answers. Six distinct response profiles were identified: Nationalists, Youth Nationalists, Democrats, Oligarchs, Historical Constants, and Republicans. The findings suggest that the positioning of these subgroups can be interpreted as organized around broader orientations toward collective projects and expectations about the future. From this perspective, the construction of historical memory appears to be connected to imagined societal ideals. These results highlight the potential relevance of considering representations of the collective future when examining memory processes.