Territorialidade e Poder: Uma Análise do Discurso na (re)constituição Identitária do Povo Ofaié

Abstract

Based on the assumption that identity and territorial possession give more empowerment to human beings, we developed the hypothesis that through the historical record it is possible to identify traces of subjectivity of the Ofaié people. Therefore, for this research to be developed, we asked the following questions: Did recording the historical trajectory of the Ofaié people contribute to ensuring that this ethnic group was not forgotten? Is the identification of the subjectivity traits of the Ofaié people intrinsic in the discourse of others? Did the recording of the history of the Ofaié people allow the re(constitution) of their identity? Based on these questions, we elaborate the general objective of this work, which is to problematize the representation of the indigenous Ofaié subject, and the white subject, based on a re-reading of the book “The OFAIÉ territory: through the paths of history”. As specific objectives, we propose: a) showing the importance of recording the language of these people, in order to contribute to its preservation and identify traces of the Ofaié culture; b) analyze the influences suffered by the Ofaié in their trajectory and how this contributed to the re(constitution) of their identity; c) analyze the subjectivity traits of the Ofaié people from the perspective of the white man through excerpts taken from the mentioned book. To support this research, we are based on the following theoretical assumptions, such as: Foucault (1992), Coracini (2010), Pêcheux (1988), Orlandi (2008) and Guerra (2015). As an addition to this research, we brought an example of (re)constitution, valorization and perpetuation of ethnicity, a project created, together with students and the indigenous community, in the form of an entry, entitled “Ofaié Dictionary”, bringing indigenous words and their translations into Portuguese, next to the figure. Based on Foucauldian archaeogenealogy, we seek to understand and problematize the role of language in the social, cultural and historical processes of indigenous peoples, in this case, the Ofaié, brought by the aforementioned book. In this sense, we verify a knowledge-power relationship, like Guerra (2015) that also seeks to identify how linguistic structures reflect and perpetuate power relations in society. This work has three chapters. The first talks about the historical path, the cultural and social memory of these people and the colonization process; the second presents the theoretical methodological procedures, the proposed objectives, and, finally, we present data analysis and the applicability of Applied Linguistics, taking as priority the language and culture of the original peoples, from border discourse, conflicts and results of the analysis of discursive excerpts. Keywords: Identity. Ofaié. (Re)constitution. Power relationship.