Remembering April: the Brazilian and Portuguese historiographies, and the problem of the transition to democracy

Abstract

The objective of this text is to analyze a number of questions that have been important for the Brazilian and Portuguese historiographical production on the theme of the democratic transition. It discusses how the history-studies have been dealing with the social memory related to the authoritarian experience in both countries, and examines different interpretations that question the meaning of the changes that happened as a consequence of the democratic transition. There will be no place for an intercalation of authors, with some more modern as a replacement for others, more ancient ones; instead, the text draws attention to a debate that, marked by the present time, is still far from exhausted.