The Constructions of the Homoíne Massacre in Mozambican Mainstream Newspapers

The legacies of the Mozambican Civil War (1976–1992) pitting the ruling Marxist-inclined Front for the Liberation of Mozambique against the anti-communist Mozambican National Resistance party are well documented. Existing literature also point to the role of the Cold War and the neighboring apartheid South Africa and Rhodesia (present-day Zimbabwe) in shaping this conflict. This chapter examines the representations of the Homoíne Massacre (1987)—regarded as the single largest massacre documented in this war—in mainstream Mozambican newspapers. It is estimated that 424 civilians including women and children were killed in Homoíne during the massacre. Drawing upon Stuart Hall’s constructionist approach to representation and Foucault’s discourse theory, this study examines the social meanings of the massacre produced by the mainstream newspapers. Data were drawn from three news media, Revista Tempo, Diário de Moçambique, and Jornal Notícias. Critical Discourse Analysis was used to examine the ideological constructions in journalistic texts.