XVII Congress of the Brazilian Studies Association

Abrasileirar o Brasil: Mario de Andrade's linguistic project

• In Event: Modernismo brasileiro: novas abordagens

Abstract

Languages that currently have the largest number of speakers in the Americas were disseminated during the process of colonization. As such, literary production has historically served in the continent as an instrument to impose an official standard linguistic variety, among other things. On the other hand, the space opened by the same literary production also allowed actors of minoritized groups to use this space to negotiate agency, to develop autonomy, and engage in counter-hegemonic movements. This is the case of Mario de Andrade, who, with the argument of “Abrasileirar o Brasil”, developed a linguistic-literary project in order to promote aesthetic emancipation in relation to Europe. Not only his literary works are a conscious attempt of a political intervention in Brazilian Portuguese, but healso dedicated himself extensively to intellectual reflection on the "Brazilian" language in its various aspects, leaving behind intense critical activity related to the particularities of spoken and written Portuguese in Brazil, and even to singing in popular and classical music in Brazil. We will attempt to undertake an analysis of Mário de Andrade's political agency, especially in his Gramatiquinha from a glottopolitical perspective.

Authors

• Rafael Silva Lemos, Yale University

• Thayrine Kleinsorgen de Almeida Cruz, Universidade Federal Fluminense