Os efeitos ideológicos das hierarquias raciais nas construções de sentido em Libras

Abstract

Language, linked to society, carries non-neutral ideals, often shaped by colonial legacies. In Brazil, racism manifests itself covertly through linguistic discourse to perpetuate the logic of subordination. In the context of Brazilian Sign Language (Libras), this dynamic is crucial, as its signs can convey oppressive discourse and render invisible the multiple oppressions of black deaf people, perpetuating a colonial matrix. This study aims to analyze the constructions and effects of meaning of racialized signs in Libras, identifying how the incorporation of black phenotypic characteristics materializes racist ideologies and contributes to the maintenance of a colonial matrix of power that subalternizes the identity of the black deaf subject. The methodology consists of a Systematic Literature Review (SLR), with a qualitative, applied, and exploratory approach. Databases from SciELO, CAPES, and BDTD were used, with the descriptors “Linguistic ideologies”; “Racial linguistics”; “Racial hierarchies and deafness”; “Structural racism and deafness”; “Intersectionality and deafness”; “Racialized signs in Libras”; “Construction and effects of meaning in Libras”; “Racialization and coloniality in deafness”; “Black and deaf identity,” and used research within the time frame from 2010 to 2025. The selection involved screening by title/keyword, reading abstracts, and analyzing articles. The final sample of 25 studies indicates the relevance of investigating how Libras disseminates racialized discursive practices. Thus, it has been demonstrated that deaf Black individuals suffer from intersectional silencing: marginalized on racial grounds as well as on sensory-linguistic grounds. Language, therefore, has proven to be a space of symbolic contestation where Black deaf identity must be constantly reaffirmed against erasure.