Entre conflitos e resistências: usos e atitudes linguísticas de jovens indígenas Akwe-Xerente
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2014-08-21
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Universidade Federal de Goiás
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This study aims to present an analysis about the language uses and language atitudes of indigenous youth from the ethnic group Akwe-Xerente. Especifically, we seek to verify the choices of the younth for the uses of the xerente and Portuguese languages as well as the group’s avaluation about the languages and their uses. In a broader perspective of analysis, we discuss how the Xerente youth has answered to political, economic, cultural and conflicts which are present in their daily lifes, in attempt to diagnose the tendencies for the next generations. In this sense, we aim to verify if the group tends to the displacement and linguistic assimilation or, in the opposite way, they have a tendencie to the cultural and linguistic resistance. The Xerente or Akwe people, as they nominate themself, are located in the region of Tocantínia, a small town in the state of Tocantins. At presente, the group has approximately 3.100 individuals (IBGE, 2010) which are spreaded through the Xerente and Funil territory. According to Rodrigues (2002) the Xerente language may be classified as belonging to the linguistic family Jê (Macro-Jê) and composes, with the Xavante and Xacriabá languages, the Akwe group. For the analysis of the data, we adopted the ethnographic procedures, such as the participant observation, the interview and the field note diary. Throughout the research, we have visited the Xerente and, each time, we have stayed about ten days with them. In the analysis of the results, we considered the Braggio’s studies (1991; 2005; 2009; 2012; 2013) about the sociolinguistic situation of the Xerente and the theoretical concepts about bilingual populations in diglossic situations presented in Fishman (1998), Grosjean (2001), Hamel (1988), Muñoz (2006) and Myers-Scotton (2002). With regard to the group’s linguistic choices, in all the domains considered (family, school, religion and city) we verified that the language choices are made according to the hierarchy of functions, in the sense that, whereas Portuguese is attached to formal funtions, Xerente language is attached to the informal functions. Nevertheless, formal functions that was before attached to Portuguese, such as the context of a classroom or the function of writing has been now attached to the xerente language. This indicates a process of refunctionalisation of such domains in favor to the indigenous language (HAMEL, 1988). With respect to atitudes, the results showed that the youth shares feelings of loyalt nor just to the language but also to the Xerente identity, since this two elements must be, according to the youths’ words, defended and perpetuated. However, the participants recognize that such “moral obligation” (FISHMAN, 1998) has not been made by the Xerente youth, which has increased their choice for the Portuguese language. Such results reveal, therefore, a contradiction in the group discourses and behaviors, which reflects not only the contraditions, but also the conflicts experienced by this youth. Hence, we conclude that, although the Xerente youth shows forms of resistance to linguistic assimiliation, the several conflicts that govern their daily lifes make uncertain the future of the next generation.
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SILVA, J. I. Entre conflitos e resistências: usos e atitudes linguísticas de jovens indígenas Akwe-Xerente. 2014. 162 f. Dissertação (Mestrado em Letras e Linguística) - Universidade Federal de Goiás,Goiânia, 2014.