Por uma política linguística no Brasil em defesa do fortalecimento e promoção das línguas indígenas e africanas como minoritárias

Abstract

Brazil is a continental country, and it is important to notice that the linguistic variety is a fact. Throughout its history, it can be observed the erasure of people, cultures, identities, and languages and how these elements have attained their current statuses as either majority or minority, such as in the case of African and Indigenous languages, through academic dissemination, particularly via scientific articles. Based on the historical context, the main objective of this research is to analyze the process of promotion and revitalization of the minority languages (Indigenous and African) in Brazil through linguistic policies and emerging (counter)power as instrument of political and ideological affirmation in a globalized world, where the economic value of languages is measured in socio-historical terms. In view of this, the study aims to answer the following guiding question: In what ways have official bodies- such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Education, and Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) developed legal mechanisms to ensure the implementation of language policies and planning aimed at the revitalization, promotion, and respect of so-called minority languages, such as African and Indigenous languages, within schools and in the geopolitical scenario? The research justifies its importance as it raises questions such as the power relations that permeate this taxonomy of minority vs. majority languages and affirms its scientific relevance as a form of reparation for the historical processes of enslavement, marginalization, and erasure of Africanized and Indigenous peoples since the commencement of Portuguese colonization. Thus, in methodological terms, this investigation is considered a qualitative investigation, using a systematic literature review approach. Anchored in the theoretical and methodological frameworks of Calvet (2002; 2007), Lucchesi (2006, 2009), Petter (2006/2007), Lopes (2008, 2013), and Petter (2007), the research aims to broaden the analytical scope of this proposal as a central axis for the promotion and appreciation of minority languages within the fields of geosociolinguistics and Language Policy and its management. As a result, the findings reveal that minority languages-particularly regarding their recognition and appreciation, of which there are many-still lack the implementation of educational and linguistic policies that place them at the center, rather than leaving them marginalized or invisible.