A Linguistic Study of Brasilica, the Hybrid Portuguese Language of Colonial Brazil
FAIN: FA-252595-17
Monica (Kittiya) Kittiya Lee
California State Los Angeles University Auxiliary Services, Inc. (Los Angeles, CA 90032-4226)
A book-length study of Brasílica, the
linguistic middle ground in Brazil between speakers of indigenous and Portuguese
languages.
My book is a social and cultural history that revises the historiography of colonial and imperial Brazil. It demonstrates that indigenous peoples, far from fading from sight, actively engaged society and shaped history. Through spoken utterance, the Indians infused the medieval Catholicism brought by the Portuguese with their own concepts and forged a syncretic religion. My detailed study of the translation manuals of the Brasílica, the lingua franca spoken between peoples of different languages, introduces new and understudied archival materials. It sheds light on linguistic evolution and on the relations sustained between colonizer and colonized. The heart of this project examines the social practices that reflect how peoples have dealt with diversity, and how variety innovated practices, constructed communities, engendered divisions, and so, molded identities.