XVII Congress of the Brazilian Studies Association

Nada é por acaso: Contrasting Interpretations of Fate and Inevitability

• In Event: The Kiss Nightclub Fire and Legacies of Trauma

Abstract

This paper explores contrasting interpretations of fate and inevitability among survivors and family members of victims. While some survivors and family members have fought for judicial and political reckoning, arguing that lapses in regulatory enforcement made this fire and similar tragedies inevitable, others have turned to esoteric pursuit of peace and connection, in the belief that the fire was destined to happen. While both interpretations employ a language of inevitability, they do so with contrasting implications.

Author

• Ceres Victora, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul