Escrita e silenciamento: os banheiros femininos da UFSCar como espaço de resistência

Abstract

This study analyzes phrases written on the walls of women's restrooms in the academic blocks (ATs) at UFSCar, understanding these writings as forms of resistance and expressions of silenced voices. The corpus consists of twelve phrases denouncing harassment, racism, authoritarianism, and institutional conflicts. The research adopts an analytical procedure aimed at breaking with apparent meanings in the texts, revealing contradictions, silencing, and resistance processes, based on authors such as Pêcheux, Maingueneau, and Foucault. Analyses are conducted at three levels: syntactic, semantic, and discursive, also considering concepts like paratopia, heterotopia, and resistance. The study shows that, despite being a marginal space within the university, the restroom becomes a site of speech and denunciation where voices that usually lack formal platforms find expression. The phrases do not necessarily follow standard norms but still produce meaning and carry marks of pain, anger, belonging, and struggle. These utterances challenge the idea of adherent discourse and reveal a discourse full of conflicts and silencing. The research highlights the importance of paying attention to marginal spaces and how they are used to break institutional silencing. As a continuation, it is suggested to expand the corpus and analyze men's restrooms to understand other forms of manifestation.