a public sphere in Amazonia? the depersonalized collaborative construction of discourse in Xavante

Abstract

What are the discourse presuppositions of the Habermasian public sphere? The present article explores this question by comparing the Western philosophy of language with the political discourse practices of the Xavante Indians of central Brazil. Specifically, it focuses on the relationships among discourse, the individual, and the collectivity. Discursive practices in Xavante men's council meetings pragmatically represent discourse as an emergent intersubjective production. Elaborate co‐performances that incorporate both participant commentary and the discourse of previous meetings oppose the principle of negativity to that of notability. Speech performances effectively detach individuals from the content of their speech, counteracting Xavante factionalism and promoting social cohesiveness as well as egalitarian relations among senior males. Simultaneously, speech practices recreate and reinforce age‐ and gender‐based relations of dominance. [discourse, co‐performance, factional politics, principles of negativity and notability, philosophy of language, Brazilian Indians]

Public sphere in Latin America: a map of the historiography

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In Our Own Voices: Reproductive Health Radio Programming in the Peruvian Amazon

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Polyphonic discourse: Overlapping in Samoan ceremonial greetings

“…Furthermore, the Speakers who follow the first Speaker are not seen äs his 'respondents' (a perspective that is instead found in other kinds of ceremonial dialogue or public performance, e.g., among Native South Americans, cf. Urban, 1986;Graham, 1993Graham, , 1995. The differentiated organization within the same pair part simply Supports the claim that Speakers belonging to the same party are not trying to reach perfectly simultaneous talk.…”

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