Miguel Reale and his autobiographical accounts (1986-1987)

In this article we will analyze the two autobiographical volumes by Miguel Reale (1910-2006)—Memórias: Destinos cruzados (Memoirs: Crossed destinies) and Memórias: A balança e a espada (Memoirs: The balance and the sword), published in 1986 and 1987 by Editora Saraiva—seeking to understand Reale’s tactics and discursive strategies in his (re)construction of a public biography. In addition to being an articulator and civilian theoretician of the 1964 Brazilian coup d’état, Reale was a constant collaborator with the dictatorship. During the process of the democratic reorganization of the autocratic-bourgeois State, Reale was a legal counselor to João Figueiredo. In that capacity, he fought for a conservative political opening to be abided and understood by the people as a “gift.” This proximity created numerous issues because if Reale could not deny his old commitments, he could not likewise publicly admit his defense of the regime. Seeking to secure his position as an intellectual, Reale took several coordinated actions, the most important of which was to publish his memoirs.