“Watch out, Mr. president” – non-violence as ethical commitment

Abstract

Considering the role of politeness in social interactions, the present study aims to analyze a letter from a column of the newspaper O Globo, written by Fernando Henrique Cardoso (2021), former president of Brazil, addressed to the then president Jair Messias Bolsonaro, in alignment with the concept of face, according to Goffman (1980), in the context of non-violence, according to Butler (2021). The letter is examined as an enunciative project, according to Bakhtin's perspective, from a qualitative-interpretative approach which allowed the search for traces of linguistic-discursive strategies, of a polite nature, employed by the signatory. Associated with the concepts of face and non-violent forces, Elias’ studies (1939/1994) on the customs and civilizing patterns that were ritualized throughout Western history were taken as assumptions, contrasting with a scenario marked by movements and interactions of impoliteness and violence. Results showed that the letter explains important principles, fundamental pillars for life and its continuity: the democratic principle, which values ​​equality as a form of zeal for everyone’s life without distinction, and dignity or politeness, in reaffirmation of a verbal and social practice based on non-violence.