WP334 The pragmatics of hope among survivors of a terrorist attack

This paper examines how survivors of a terrorist attack in Fortaleza, Brazil, and their allies navigated its aftermath. Through a focus group and interviews with students, professors, and other professionals—some present during the attack, others in solidarity with them—we analyze how they resisted the silencing effects of violence and contested securitizing discourses that criminalize marginalized populations. Grounded in sociolinguistic and anthropological studies on (in)securitization, criminal governance, and survival, we argue that hope emerged in the collective discussions not as naïve optimism but as practical reason and a semiotic strategy for reclaiming public space. Through three case studies, we explore how interlocutors resignified the traumatic event by mapping the deictic field of killing, challenged hegemonic security frameworks, and refused to restrict their mobility in the city. This paper contributes to broader debates on the communicative dimensions of violence, (in)security, and hope as resistance.