Article published in:
Identity Politics
[Journal of Language and Politics 1:1] 2002
► pp. 115–147

National languages as flags of allegiance, or the linguistics that failed us

A close look at emergent linguistic chauvinism in Brazil

| State University at Campinas, Brazil
This paper focuses on what appears to be the emergence of linguistic chauvinism in Brazil. Large-scale influx currently under way of foreign words (mostly from English) into the country’s national language, Portuguese, is being eyed with suspicion and distrust by large segments of the population. The current crisis was kick-started by a federal deputy in the House of Representatives who presented a controversial bill aimed at curbing the use of foreignisms by the use of law. Critics have however been quick to point out that the bill is a covert attempt to advance a political agenda. The paper examines the role of linguists in the unfolding national debate. After noting that they have by and large been set aside and have failed to bring the weight of their expert opinion to bear on the whole issue, I advance the claim that it is they themselves who are largely to blame. I conclude by making a plea that it is high time we as linguists did some soul-searching and asked ourselves whether, in our single-minded effort to theorise about language in total disregard for what the lay people think and believe about it, we have not isolated ourselves from them and rendered ourselves largely inconsequential. I suggest that Critical Linguistics may turn out to be one way of regaining some of the lost ground.
Keywords: politics of language, national language, Brazilian Portuguese, English in Brazil, folk linguistics, linguists and language planning
Published online: 16 August 2002
https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.1.1.08raj
References
Anderson, B.
1983 Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origins and Spread of Nationalism. London: Verso.Google Scholar
Andrade, O. de
(1928) Manifesto antropófago. Revista de Antropologia. 11.1.Google Scholar
Antunes, C.
2000 Língua francesa domina o Ocidente: conclusão é de “Palavras sem Fronteiras”. Folha de São Paulo. March 11.Google Scholar
Bach. E.
1974 Explanatory inadequacy. In Cohen, D. (Ed.) 1974. Explaining Linguistic Phenomena. New York: John Wiley and Sons. pp. 153–171.Google Scholar
Bagno, M.
2000 O deputado e a língua. Boletim da ALAB. Year 4. No. 4. pp. 55–61.Google Scholar
Bechara, E.
2000 A norma culta face à democratização do ensino. Text available for download on http://www.academia.org.br/ortogra.htm
Bloomfield, L.
1925 Why a linguistic society. (text of the lecture delivered on the occasion of the founding of the Linguistic Society of America). Language. 1.1. pp. 1–5.Google Scholar
Bramsted, E. K.
1965 Goebbels and National Socialist Propaganda 1925–1945. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press.Google Scholar
Buck, C. D.
1916 Language and the sentiment of nationality. American Political Science Review. 101. pp. 44–69. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Câmara Jr., J. M.
1970 Estrutura da Língua Portuguesa. 2nd. Ed. Petrópolis, Brazil: Editora Vozes.Google Scholar
Cardoso, S. A. M.
1999 A geolingüística no Brasil: meio século de contribuição à ciência da linguagem e ao ensino da língua materna. Boletim da ABRALIN. No. 231. pp. 18–34.Google Scholar
de Castilho, A. T. and Altman, M. C. F. S.
1994 Para a história da Associação Brasileira de Lingüística. Boletim da ABRALIN. 161. pp. 21–37.Google Scholar
Chaves, M.
2001 Das besteiras consagradas. O Estado de São Paulo. January 13th.
Chilton, P.
(Ed.) 1985 Language and the Nuclear Arms Debate: Newkspeak Today. London: Frances Printer.Google Scholar
Chouliaraki, L. and Fairclough, N.
1999 Discourse in Late Modernity: Rethinking Critical Discourse Analysis. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.Google Scholar
Dissanayake, W.
1989 Purism, language, and creativity: the Sri Lankan experience. In Jernudd, B. H. and Shapiro, M. J. (Eds.) 1989. pp. 185–196.Google Scholar
Fairclough, N.
1989 Language and Power. London: Longman.Google Scholar
1992 Discourse and Social Change. Cambridge: Polity Press.Google Scholar
Faraco, C. A.
2001 Guerras em torno da língua. Folha de São Paulo. Caderno “Mais”. Pp. 30–31.Google Scholar
Fasold, R.
1988 What national languages are good for. In Coulmas, F. (Ed.). 1988. With Forked Tongues. Singapore: Karoma Publishers. pp. 181–194.Google Scholar
Finatto, M. J. B.
2000 O que trai o tradutor? Boletim da ALAB. Year 4. No. 4. pp. 76–83.Google Scholar
Fiorin, J. L.
2000 Considerações em torno do projeto de lei de defesa, proteção, promoção e uso do idioma apresentado à câmara dos deputados pelo deputado Aldo Rebelo. Boletim da ALAB. Year 4. No. 4. pp. 62–75.Google Scholar
Fishman, J.
1968 Nationality-nationalism and nation-nationism. In Fishman, J, Ferguson, C. A. and Das-Gupta, J. (Eds.). 1968. Language Problems of Developing Nations. New York: Wiley. pp. 98–112.Google Scholar
Fowler, R.
1987 Notes on critical linguistics. In Threadgold, T. and Steele, R. (Eds.) Language Topics: Essays in Honour of Michael Halliday. Amsterdam: John Bejamins.Google Scholar
Gellner, E.
1983 Nations and Nationalism. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.Google Scholar
Guedes, P. C.
2000 E por que não nos defender da língua? Boletim da ALAB. Year 4. No. 4. pp. 31–42.Google Scholar
Giles, H. et al.
1995 Reactions to Anglo- and Hispanic-American-accented speakers: affect, identity, persuasion, and the English-only controversy. Language & Communication. 15.2. pp. 107–120. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Greenfield, L.
1998 Nationalism and language. In Mey, J. L. (Ed.) (1998). Concise Encyclopedia of Pragmatics. Oxford: Elsevier. pp. 635–641.Google Scholar
Hall, R. A.
1950 Leave Your Language Alone! Ithaca, N. Y.: Linguistica.Google Scholar
Hodge, R and Kress, G.
1979 Language as Ideology. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Henningsen, M.
1989 The politics of purity and exclusion: literary and linguistic movements of political empowerment in America, Africa, the South Pacific, and Europe. In In Jernudd, B. H. and Shapiro, M. J. (Eds.) 1989. pp. 31–52.Google Scholar
Heyd, U.
1954 Language Reform in Modern Turkey. Jerusalem: Israel Oriental Society.Google Scholar
Hutton, c.
1996 Law lesson for linguists? Accountability and acts of professional classification. Language & Communication. 16.3. pp. 205–214. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Jernudd, B. H. and Uyangola, J.
1987 The power of English in Sri Lanka: a survey of newspaper content and text. In Singh, U. N., and Srivastava, R. N. (Eds.). 1987. Perspectives in Language Planning. Calcutta: Mithila Darshan. pp. 60–94.Google Scholar
Jernudd, B. J.
1989 The texture of language purism: an introduction. In Jernudd, B. H. and Shapiro, M. J. (Eds.) 1989. pp. 1–19.Google Scholar
Jernudd, B. H. and Shapiro, M. J.
(Ed.) 1989 The Politics of Language Purism. New York: Mouton de Gruyter. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Karim-Hakkak, A.
1989 Language reform movement and its language: the case of Persian. In Jernudd, B. H. and Shapiro, M. J. (Eds.) 1989. pp. 81–104.Google Scholar
Kay, P.
1987 Linguistic competence and folk theories of language. In Holland, D. & Quinn, N. (Eds.) 1987. Cultural Models in Language and Thought. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Klein, G.
1989 Language policy during the fascist period: the case of language education. In Wodak, R. (Ed.) 1989. pp. 39–56.Google Scholar
Kumaratunga, M.
1958 Introduction to Vyakarana Vivaranaya. Colombo: Gunasena and Co. Ltd.Google Scholar
Kuhn, T. S.
1962 The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Chicago: The university of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Lemle, M.
2000 A norma culta face à heterogeneidade lingüística. Text available for download on http://www.academia.org.br/ortogra.htm
Le Page, R. B.
1964 The National Language Question: Linguistic Problems of NewlyIndepen-dent States. London: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Niskier, A.
2000 A missão da Academia Brasileira de Letras na defesa da Língua Portuguesa. Text available for downloading on http://www.cnol.com.br/cnol/not/cam/00/11/07/12.shtml
Newmeyer, F.
1982 On the applicability of transformational-generative grammar. Applied Linguistics. 3.11. pp. 89–120. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
1986 Politics of Linguistics. Chicago: Chicago University Press.Google Scholar
Nunberg, G.
1989 Linguists and the official language movement. Language. 65.6. pp. 579–595. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Nunes, E.
2001 Yankees, go home Revista da Educação 28th March.
Oliveira, J. L.
2000 Freio no estrangeirismo. Jornal de Brasília. August 14th.
Pennycook, A.
1994 The Cultural Politics of English as an International Language. London: Longman.Google Scholar
1998 English and the Discourses of Colonialism. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Possenti, S.
2000 Efeito pela causa. Boletim da ALAB. Year 4. No. 4. pp. 84–87.Google Scholar
Phillipson, R.
1992 Linguistic Imperialism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Rajagopalan, K.
1999a Of EFL teachers, conscience, and cowardice. ELT Journal. 53. 3. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
1999b Tuning up amidst the din of discordant notes: on a recent bout of identity crisis in applied linguistics. International Journal of Applied Linguistics. 9. 2. pp. 99–119. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
1999c Critical approaches and their raison d’être: a rejoinder to Brumfit and Widdowson. International Journal of Applied Linguistics. 9. 2. Pp. 127–134. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
2000 Critical pedagogy and linguistic imperialism in the EFL context. TESOL Journal. 9.4. Pp. 5–6.Google Scholar
2001a ELT classroom as an arena for identity clashes. In Grigoletto, M. and Carmagnani, A. M. G. (Ed.) 2001. English as a Foreign Language: Identity, Practices, and Textuality. São Paulo: Humanitas, Pp. 23–29.Google Scholar
2001b. Review of A. S. Canagarajah: Resisting Linguistic Imperialism in English Teaching. Word. 52 (3). Pp. 462–466.Google Scholar
Rajagopalan, K. and Rajagopalan, C.
forthcoming The English language in Brazil — a boon or a bane?. In Braine, G. Ed. Teaching English to the World Alexandria, VA, USA. TESOL Publishers
Rebelo, A.
2000 Projeto de Lei nº 1676/1999. Boletim da ALAB. Year 4. No. 4. pp. 9–17. The text, in its entirety, is available for downloading on http://www.cnol.com.br/cnol/not/cam/00/11/07/12.shtml
2001 Você é contra estrangeirismos na TV paga? Revista PayT. V. no. 791.Google Scholar
Riocento, T.
1995 A brief history of language restrictionism in the United States. In Dicker, S. et al. (Eds.) 1995. Official English? No! TESOL. Alexandria, VA. pp. 21–43.Google Scholar
Rodrigues, A. D.
1993 Línguas indígeneas: 500 anos de descobertas e perdas. D. E. L. T. A. 9. 1. pp. 83–103.Google Scholar
Rouquié, A.
2000 A França e a defesa da latinidade. The text, in its entirety, is available for downloading on http://www.cnol.com.br/cnol/not/cam/00/11/07/12.shtml
Sader, E.
2001 O Brasil fora da Alca. Folha de São Paulo. April 3.
Schmitz, J. R.
2000 Em defesa da língua portuguesa: defendê-la de quem e de quê? Boletim da ALAB. Year 4. No. 4. pp. 43–47.
Scliar-Cabral, Leonor
1999 Definição da política lingüística no Brasil. Boletim da ABRALIN. No. 231. pp. 7–17Google Scholar
Segismundo, F.
2000 A preservação do Português nos meios de comunicação. The text, in its entirety, is available for downloading on http://www.cnol.com.br/cnol/not/cam/00/11/07/12.shtml
Skuttnab-Kangas, T.
1999 Linguistic human rights — Are you naïve or what? TESOL Journal. 8/3. pp. 6–12.Google Scholar
Smith, A. D.
1986 The Ethnic Origins of Nations. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Sullivan, N. and Schaz, R. T.
1999 When cultures collide: the official language debate. Language & Communication. 19. 3. 261–275.Google Scholar
Thomas, G.
1992 Linguistic Purism. London: Longman.Google Scholar
Treanor, P.
1997 Tower of Tudjman. Language & Communication. 17. 1. 67–69. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Weinstein, B.
1989 Francophonie: purism at the international level. In Jernudd, B. H. and Shapiro, M. J. (Eds.) 1989. pp. 53–80.Google Scholar
Wodak, R.
(Ed.) 1989 Language, Power and Ideology: Studies in Political Discourse. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Cited by

Cited by 13 other publications

Animasaun, Kayode, M. Lionel Bender, Patrick J. Duffley, Alan S. Kaye, Alan S. Kaye, Alan S. Kaye, Victor H. Mair, Victor H. Mair, Kanavillil Rajagopalan, Kanavillil Rajagopalan, Kanavillil Rajagopalan, Ariane Reimann-Slater, Solomon I. Sara, Jacob J. Spa, Thomas Stolz, Thomas Stolz, Yuri Tambovtsev, Graham Thurgood, Edward J. Vajda, Edward J. Vajda & Edward J. Vajda
2005. Reviews. <i>WORD</i> 56:1 ► pp. 71 ff. Crossref logo
Huo, Xiangying
2020.  In Higher Education Internationalization and English Language Instruction, ► pp. 37 ff. Crossref logo
Lucena, Maria Inêz Probst & Ana Cecília da Gama Torres
2019. Ideologia monolíngue, mercantilização e instrumentalização da língua inglesa na alteração da LDB em 2017 e em anúncios publicitários de cursos livres. Revista Brasileira de Linguística Aplicada 19:3 ► pp. 635 ff. Crossref logo
McIntosh, Janet
2005. Language essentialism and social hierarchies among Giriama and Swahili. Journal of Pragmatics 37:12 ► pp. 1919 ff. Crossref logo
Rajagopalan, Kanavillil
2004. Tesol and the question of learners’ cultural identity. ITL - International Journal of Applied Linguistics 145-146 ► pp. 167 ff. Crossref logo
Rajagopalan, Kanavillil
2005. Language politics and the linguist. Revista Brasileira de Linguística Aplicada 5:1 ► pp. 83 ff. Crossref logo
Rajagopalan, Kanavillil
2008. The Role of Geopolitics in Language Planning and Language Politics in Brazil. Current Issues in Language Planning 9:2 ► pp. 179 ff. Crossref logo
Rajagopalan, Kanavillil
2016. Georgetown University Round Table on Languages and Linguistics 2001. <i>WORD</i> 62:3 ► pp. 192 ff. Crossref logo
Rajagopalan, Kanavillil
2017. Prescription, language politics and the field of applied linguistics: A tribute to Prof. Alan Davies. Language & Communication 57 ► pp. 22 ff. Crossref logo
Rajagopalan, Kanavillil
2020.  In Functional Variations in English [Multilingual Education, 37], ► pp. 167 ff. Crossref logo
Silva, Daniel N.
2015. Introduction. Pragmatics and Society 6:2 ► pp. 161 ff. Crossref logo
Spolsky, B. & R.D. Lambert
2006.  In Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics, ► pp. 561 ff. Crossref logo
Spolsky, Bernard
2003.  In Language Policy, Crossref logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 19 april 2022. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.