English identity and Manguebeat in Brazil

Abstract

This study is an analysis of how English is conceptualized in Brazil's Manguebeat-a cultural movement that came to prominence in the 1990s and that became one of the most influential musical styles in the country ever since. The use of English in the manifesto that first presented Manguebeat and in two of the albums that epitomize the movement is examined through text mapping in combination with the discourse analysis theory put forth by Gee (2011). The results show that English in Manguebeat is positioned as a language that does not belong exclusively to an Inner Circle country. They also demonstrate how English influences cultural expression from the periphery of Brazil, positioning it as a mobile resource that can be deployed and recontextualized in the Brazilian context.

Writing back in humorous appropriations of English in Brazil

“…As stated earlier, previous studies regarding English in Brazil have often highlighted the multiplicity of symbolic understandings of the language within the country, which often occurs in ambivalent ways (Diniz de Figueiredo, 2014, 2015; Friedrich, 2019; Jordão, 2004; Rajagopalan, 2003). The data analyzed in this study adds to understandings of this multiplicity.…”

“…In the past two decades, there has been a growing interest in language practices in which linguistic resources from English are adopted in domains such as advertising, brand naming, pop music, and Internet websites and blogs (Kachru, 2006;Lee, 2006;Martin, 2007;Pennycook, 2007;Seargeant, 2009). In the specific case of Brazil, scholars such as Assis-Peterson (2008), Friedrich (2002Friedrich ( , 2019, Diniz de Figueiredo (2010, 2015, and Montes (2014) have examined some of the symbolic functions that English has played in the country, which include representations of modernity, globalization, group identity, and prestige. However, as explained by Friedrich (2019), literature on English in Brazil and other South American contexts still seems scarce, and would thus benefit from further investigations.…”

Conceptualizations of English in the discourses of Brazilian language teachers: Issues of mobility, empowerment and international ownership

“…After all, knowledge of the language can certainly be empowering and help individuals achieve higher levels of physical and social mobility, which is one of the main reasons why a great number of educators and researchers in the country (including the present author) have been working hard in order to ensure that students from different educational and socioeconomic levels have access to it. Furthermore, analyses of English in other domains of language use (e.g., pop culture) show that the exclusive association of the language with the elites in emerging countries like Brazil can be questioned, as people can appropriate it for their own needs and purposes (Diniz de Figueiredo, 2015).…”

Pour une approche critique de la diversité des langues chantées dans les musiques populaires à l’ère de la mondialisation numérique

“…Au Brésil, c'est dans les zones marginales et périphériques que l'anglais est progressivement utilisé dans le hip-hop, à partir des années 1990 notamment, afin de signifier une appartenance socioethnique transnationale, celle du « poor black male » (Roth-Gordon, 2007). L'anglais est aussi mélangé au portugais dans le manguebeat, genre qui fusionne lui-même rock et funk d'une façon singulière (De Figueiredo, 2015), constituant un « langage décentralisé » par lequel ont lieu des performances « contre-hégémoniques », participant d'une autre mondialisation (Moita Lopes, 2008 : 333).…”