“Doutrina política, moral, muitos exemplos e muitas verdades”: o “Soldado Prático" e os usos políticos do diálogo no Império Português (1564-1612)

Abstract

This research aimed to understand the relationship between political discourse and rhetoric in Portugal during the 16th and 17th centuries (1564 – 1612). The work was taken from the period of writing the two versions of the dialogues of the “Soldado Prático” by Diogo do Couto, sources used for analysis, through which we sought to characterize the literary and rhetorical strategies, as well as the main arguments, proposals and imperial projects for the maintenance of the State of Portuguese India. Thus, we sought to understand Couto's relationship with the society in which he lived, as he was crossed by different currents of political thought of his time, reflected in the themes and debates exposed in his works. Using the contributions of Roger Chartier, Diogo Ramada Curto and Mikhail Bakhtin, it was possible to have both a macro and a micro perception of the production and dissemination of the Portuguese political discourse in the analyzed period. From the understanding of the rhetorical and theoretical precepts adopted by the author, it was possible to contribute with an analysis of studies on the different political uses of the dialogic genre in Portuguese literate culture.