Carnation in Bloom: Symbolism and Memory of the April Revolution

Abstract

This research focuses on the construction of the Portuguese collective memory of the April 1974 Revolution through a visual and political symbol: the red carnation. More specifically, it sought to understand how the Associação 25 de Abril (A25A) carries out this memorialisation at each annual commemoration, from 1984 to 2025. This analysis followed a post-structuralist perspective, based on Jacques Derrida and Roland Barthes, associated with the theory of the aesthetic turn in International Relations (IR). This theoretical framework has made it possible to decode the complexities of the construction of collective memory and national identity, as well as the (re)significations of the red carnation at each annual commemoration, according to the political and social evolution of Portuguese society. Through a qualitative and visual analysis of the iconographic and typographic elements of the A25A’s annual commemorative posters, the aim was to obtain an overview of the evolution of the visual representation of the red carnation. Thus, it was possible to understand that the red carnation became, associated with the April value of freedom, the great symbol of the 1974 Revolution and the key element in the construction of narrative(s) about it. By linking aesthetic and political approaches through visual methodologies, this study offers new elements for analysis and investigation of international phenomena in the field of IR.