Code-switching in Italo-Brazilian literature from Rio Grande do Sul and São Paulo: A sociolinguistic analysis of the forms and functions of literary code-switching

Abstract

Italo-Brazilian prose texts from São Paulo and Rio Grande do Sul, written from the 1920s until today, either in Brazilian Portuguese with Italian code-switches, or in the Venetian koiné spoken by the Italian immigrants in Rio Grande do Sul, sometimes switching to Portuguese, are an early, but so far largely neglected example of literary code-switching representing the multilingual immigrants’ communities. In a sociolinguistic analysis of these texts I will argue that the conversational functions of literary code-switching, especially in reported speech, are comparable to those found in spontaneous utterances, if considered in a continuum between conceptually oral and conceptually written language ( Koch and Oesterreicher, 1985 ). On the micro-level the stylistic function of code-switching plays a more prominent role in literature than in other genres, but on the macro level this kind of code-switching can also be regarded as a response to bilingual identity. In this respect, literary code-switching is used as an approximation strategy between the two closely related contact languages that gives the minority language prestige and thus contributes to its preservation.

Role of Code-Switching and Code-Mixing in Indigenous Communicative Contexts: A Study of The God of Small Things

“…Gardner-Chloros and Weston (2005) focused on the differences and similarities between the functions of codeswitching in spoken and written forms. Müller (2015) opined that though the stylistic function of code-switching played a major role in the literature on a micro-level, yet on the macro-level that kind of code-switching could be considered to be a response to bilingual identity. Many aspects of code-switching and code-mixing between Hindi and English have also been studied (Chetia, 2017;Sailaja, 2011).…”

Conciencia Sociolingüística e Hispanismos en un Corpus de Novela Rosa Inglesa

“…6 Por su reconocida capacidad para expresar significado social, discursivo y referencial (Heller, 1988, p. 2) el CdC es un recurso narrativo útil que da a la escritura lo que en inglés se denomina "local colour", creando simbólicamente "a sense of place" (Gardner-Chloros, 2010, p. 507). Muchos investigadores (Callahan, 2004;Montes-Alcalá, 2015;Müller, 2015;Sebba, 2000;Sebba et al, 2012, entre otros) han demostrado que los escritores lo usan como apoyo para resaltar la representación de los personajes (Jonsson, 2010(Jonsson, , p. 1309, como estrategia creativa para mostrar la identidad (Cortés-Conde y Boxer, 2002, p. 137), indicar una cultura compartida o bien para crearla (Heller, 1988, pp. 270-71).…”

Sustenance of Native Culture in Multilingual Written Texts: A Case Study of <I>The God of Small Things</I> and <I>The Hungry Tide</I>

“…They have also focused on the differences and similarities between the functions of codeswitching in spoken and written forms, and concluded that the functions are similar in both modalities and also extend to other semiotic systems like sign language and visual culture. Müller (2015) also discussed examples of literary code-switching in selected Italo-Brazilian texts to highlight the relationship between the forms and functions of literary multilingualism and their sociolinguistic implications and concluded that though the stylistic function of code-switching played a major role in literature than in other genres on a micro-level, yet on the macro-level that kind of code-switching could be considered to be a response to bilingual identity.…”