French theoretical and methodological influences on Brazilian journalism research

Abstract

A significant part of Brazilian journalism research has been influenced by French academic culture. This article reconstructs the last 60 years of journalism studies in Brazil considering the relations established with France since the first scholars at the Institut Français de Presse, but also semioticians, historians, sociologists and philosophers from other institutions. This overview, focused on those who have received French approaches, shows the main trends and challenges that Brazilian scholars have been dealing with developing their own works in methodological and theoretical terms. Each study is commented on within its respective field of knowledge—such as language, sociology, anthropology and history—and then compared with the others. The key argument is that there are several and even conflicting French references that guide the approaches and understandings adopted by journalism researchers in Brazil.