The Negacionist Phenomenon and its Representations in the Cinematographic Narrative “Negação” (Denial – 2016)

Abstract

Considering the challenges inscribed in our present time, which influence historiographical practices and the paths of research, production and teaching of historical knowledge, our work aims to discuss some formal aspects of the negationist phenomenon represented in the plot of the cinematographic narrative “Denial” (Denial – 2016). In its plot, based on a true story, we see the legal debates between the historian Deborah Lipstadt, who was sued by David Irving, a notorious denier of the historicity of the Holocaust. Among the formal aspects that we have identified and analyzed are: I) the rhetorical structure of denial; II) the feeling of being an outsider; and III) the dimension of publicity pursued by the denier. To analyze the elements and dimensions of this phenomenon, we propose a dialogue with authors such as Jörn Rüsen, Eric Hobsbawm, Antoon De Baets and Michel de Pracontal. The various elements identified in the script of this film stimulate theoretical and methodological reflections on our craft and science, also stimulating the possibility of discussing some of the attacks of which several researchers, in particular, and scientific and academic knowledge, in general, have been targeted recurrently, inside and outside the academy.