This paper evaluates, based on an analysis of family feuds and political dispute occurring in a county in the State of Ceara, different uses of memory as an affirmative tool by factions involved in election campaigns. After the mayor’s assassination, the recollection of the crime served as reference to several election campaigns, including actions of a juridical nature by means of which the split between victims and culprits was recovered. In the last election, speeches with reference to the need of "forgetting" the past and "thinking about what would be better for the county" prevailed and led to the victory of some relatives of the accused of the mayor’s death in 1998. Based on an assessment of the political situation in the county of Acarau, this paper approaches the issue of converting memory to political emblem, asserting the limits of its symbolic effectiveness and the latest (re)signifying of the "past."
Symbolic effectiveness; Family; Electoral campaign; Memory