"Chico Bento": Linguistic Marking and National Identity in Brazilian Comics
1994; University of Arizona; Volume: 11; Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
1062-1601
Autores Tópico(s)Digital Communication and Language
ResumoThe main character of the popular Brazilian comic book Chico Bento is a country boy whose speech is depicted in an eye dialect of caipira, a rural dialect centered in the interior of Sao Paulo and Minas Gerais, states in Southeastern Brazil. The author highlights Chico's speech in order to describe social difference and relations resulting from widespread rural-urban migration. This linguistic marking is essential to the location of caipira culture in Brazilian national identity. The caipira is portrayed as a source of nostalgia, representing a common, rural past, and as such serves as a resource for nation building; however, caipiras are also depicted as an obstacle to modernity in contemporary Brazilian society.
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