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Part of
Language and Violence: Pragmatic perspectives
Edited by Daniel N. Silva
[Pragmatics & Beyond New Series 279] 2017
► pp. 57–78

Chapter 2
Voice and silence in the suburbs of São Paulo

State, community and the meanings of violence

In the city of São Paulo the “world of crime” has grown and become just another organizing category of social life. The purpose of this chapter is to understand the meanings of violence in this new context. Using ethnographical studies that were carried out in a public sphere in which police officers, residents and representatives of local institutions talk about insecurity and the “perpetrators” of violence, this article discusses the speech acts and the silences that emerge from these meetings. The study highlights that not only order but also conflict are present when we talk about violence.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The meetings
  • 3.“Agreements” and communicability: The speech acts
  • 4.Voice and silence among the human rights activists
  • Final considerations
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 9 November 2017
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.279.03gal
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Cited by one other publication

French, Brigittine M.
2020. Maledictive Language: Arguments and Conflict. In The International Encyclopedia of Linguistic Anthropology, ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo

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