Linguas e identidades em contexto de fronteira Brasil/Venezuela / Languages and identities in the frontier of Brazil and Venezuela

AUTOR(ES)
DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

2010

RESUMO

The present study was conducted in the frontier between Brazil and Venezuela, more precisely in Pacaraima, a Brazilian district located up northern Roraima State. Focusing on the commercial and tourist section of urban Pacaraima, its aim was to analyze representations of local different languages and nationalities. Quite close to Santa Elena de Uairén, a Venezuelan town, the commercial zone of Pacaraima represents, not only the most important economic activity or the area, but a significant meeting point between Brazilians and their Hispanic neighbors. The data of this research, which was interpretativist an ethnographic in nature, was collected though informal conversations (registered in field notes) and semistructured audio-taped interviews, as well as photographs taken in such bilingual context. Two research questions guided the data analysis: a) How are national analysis represented by research subjects, that is, by Brazilian salespeople in the frontier of Brazil and Venezuela? and b) What representations are constructed by Brazilian salespeople in the frontier of Brazil and Venezuela in regard to the languages (Portuguese, Spanish and their sociolinguistic varieties) used in commerce? Making use of contributions from different theoretical areas (Applied Linguistics, Cultural Studies, Anthropology and Sociology), concepts such as language (COX e ASSIS-PETERSON, 2007; CESAR e CAVALCANTI, 2007), identity (CUCHE, 2002; HALL, 2006; BAUMAN, 2005), nationality BERENBLUM, 2003) and representation (HALL, 1997) were discussed. Data analysis suggest that although Brazilian identity is seen positively when contrasted with other national identities, the identity of Brazilians who live in the area is perceived as being fragile and conflictive when thought of in terms of local existing problems. Similarly, a positive value is attributed to Portuguese when compared to Spanish and its varieties, although such prestige refers, not to the Portuguese variety spoken locally, but to the way this language is used elsewhere. As far as the representations of Spanish is concerned, results showed that more distant varieties of this language (such as the varieties used in Spain and in Caracas) are considered to be the only prestigious ones, since the local variety of Spanish is stigmatized

ASSUNTO(S)

frontiers bilinguismo identities identidades fronteiras bilingualism

ACESSO AO ARTIGO

Documentos Relacionados