THE ROLE OF LANGUAGE IN SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION IN A BAGACEIRA

Abstract

This study examines the role of language in social construction in José Américo de Almeida’s A Bagaceira (1928), emphasizing how the duality between the narrator’s erudite register and the regional dialects of the characters reflects power tensions and disparities in the Brazilian Northeast during drought cycles. Grounded in the premise that linguistic variation operates as a marker of social hierarchies, the central objective is to understand how linguistic registers articulate critiques of the region’s structural inequalities. Methodologically, a qualitative analysis of emblematic excerpts from the novel is employed, supported by theoretical frameworks such as BAKHTIN (2011), LIMA (2011), PROENÇA (1981), and OLIVEIRA (2006), who explore the relationship between language, identity, and social representation. The findings reveal that the alternation between erudite and colloquial language not only demarcates social stratification but also denounces the stigmatization of Northeastern speech, linked to cultural and political exclusion dynamics. The narrator’s erudite voice, marked by irony and lyricism, contrasts with the oral expressions of subaltern characters, exposing contradictions in a national project torn between homogenization and diversity. The conclusion asserts that the novel employs language as a critical tool, unveiling the symbolic violence entrenched in the sertão context and reinforcing literature’s role in representing marginalized realities. The study contributes to debates on sociolinguistics and literary representation, underscoring the relevance of regionalist works for understanding identity conflicts in Brazil.