A Plurilingual History of the Portuguese Language in the Luso-Brazilian Empire

Luciane Scarato

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2023
• ISBN:
  9781000913545
• Edition: 1
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Latin American & Caribbean History
• Index: History

This book investigates the diverse ways in which the Portuguese language expanded in Brazil, despite the multilingual landscape that predominated before and after the arrival of the Europeans and the African diaspora.

Challenging the assumption that the prevalence of Portuguese was a natural consequence and foregone conclusion of colonisation, the book argues that the language's expansion was as much a result of state intervention as of individual agency. The growth of the Portuguese language was a tumultuous process that mirrored the power relations and conflicts between Amerindian, European, African, and mestizo actors who shaped, standardised, and promoted the language within and beyond state institutions. Knowing Portuguese became an identification sign of being Brazilian. However, a significant number of languages disappeared along the way, and the book highlights that virtual language homogeneity does not imply social equality. Portuguese's variants place speakers on different social levels that justify domination and inequality. This research tells the history of a victorious language and other languages that left their mark on Brazilian Portuguese.

A Plurilingual History of the Portuguese Language in the Luso-Brazilian Empire is a useful resource for scholars interested in the history and standardisation of languages, Portuguese and Brazilian history, and the impacts of colonisation.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of charts
• List of tables
• List of abbreviations
• Preface and acknowledgements
• Introduction: plurilingualism in colonial Brazil
• 1 Education and religious censorship in the shaping of the Portuguese language in colonial Brazil and Portugal
• 2 The implications of educational reforms: teachers, students, and the formation of local literate groups in the gold mining district
• 3 The court in Brazil, education, and the shaping of Brazilian society
• Final reflections
• Primary manuscript sources
• Index