Renata De Rezende Ribeiro

Renata Rezende Ribeiro is a professor and researcher in the Media and Everyday Life program and a professor in the Department of Social Communication at the Federal University of Fluminense (UFF), Brazil. She holds a PhD in Communication and completed a postdoctoral research internship at René Descartes University – Paris V. She was a visiting professor at the Universities of Montpellier 3 and Paris 12 in 2024. She is the author of several articles and books, including: La mort médiatisée (Mediatized Death), Protagonisme médiatique et pandémie: traverser les ruines, réenchanter le monde (Media Protagonism and Pandemic: Crossing the Ruins, Re-enchanting the World), Émotions et raisons médiatiques (Emotions and Media Reasons), and La douleur médiatisée (Mediatized Pain).

The project

Title: Stories of pain and emotions in the media: resistance, connections, and meaning-making in vulnerable situations 

"Contemporary vulnerabilities, marked by processes of expulsion and violence, are frequently accompanied by narratives of pain and suffering that tend to naturalize these conditions, thereby obscuring resistance, solidarity, and collective uprisings. However, the “textualities” emanating from vulnerable communities themselves offer powerful “counter-images” capable of deconstructing these narratives and mobilizing emotions as tools of resistance. Everyday communication practices in the 21st century, particularly the sharing of “audiovisual testimonies” on digital social networks, play a significant role in creating meaning and implementing actions that oppose the logic of expulsion and exclusion of the other.
In this context, the research proposes to examine how narratives from vulnerable communities promote the construction of collective bonds and mobilize what we call “mediated affects” to support resistance and nourish future imaginaries. The project is part of a broader research effort on the everyday uses of digital social networks. At this stage, the research focuses on the relationship between vulnerability, the media, and the consequences of a post-COVID-19 pandemic scenario, in which the main vulnerabilities (climate and environmental crises, extreme poverty, and social exclusion - particularly in southern countries), migration crises, and technological risks linked to the spread of misinformation) appear to be worsening. The main objective of this research is to examine the role of social networks in contemporary relational dynamics by mapping groups focused on current vulnerabilities—particularly those affecting young people—and questioning the importance of the media as a pivot of everyday experience at the beginning of the 21st century."

Hosting institution: Université Paris-Est Créteil et Centre d’Études sur l’Actuel et le Quotidien (Université Paris Descartes)

Selection of publications

• Ribeiro, Renata Rezende. A dor midiatizada: o suicídio de jovens nas redes digitais. São Paulo: Genio Editorial, 2024.
• Ribeiro, Renata Rezende. Narrar a dor em telas midiáticas: proposta metodológica para compreender os afetos contemporâneos. InterScience Place, v. 19, p. 52-70, 2024.
• RIBEIRO, Renata Rezende. L’imaginaire de la mort et le quotidien de la jeunesse : altérité, émotions et enracinement dans les réseaux sociaux numériques. SOCIÉTÉS (Paris). V.158, 2022.
• RIBEIRO, Renata Rezende. La réinfosphère brésilienne: fake news et intolérance dans la vie quotidienne numérique. SOCIÉTÉS (PARIS), v. 147, 2020.
• Ribeiro, Renata Rezende. A morte midiatizada: como as redes sociais atualizam a experiência do fim da vida. EDUFF, Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, 2015. (Livre indiqué ao Prix Jabuti);