The Language of Strength, Heroism, and Belonging: Alterity and the Discursive Construction of the Sertanejo in Os Sertões

Abstract

This article proposes a linguistic and stylistic analysis of Os Sertões (1902), aiming to investigate how lexical choices and metaphorical structures contribute to the construction of the sertanejo's alterity within the Brazilian national imaginary. Based on the premise that language does not fulfill a merely descriptive function, but operates as a device for the production of meanings, the study examines the discursive mechanisms that configure the sertanejo as a figure simultaneously marginal and constitutive of the nation-building project. The analysis is organized around three thematic axes: (i) the language of strength, which associates the sertanejo with the extreme conditions of the sertão; (ii) the language of heroism, which projects him into an epic dimension; and (iii) the language of belonging, which integrates him into the natural landscape. These semantic fields are interpreted as practices of naming and classification that produce a complex representation of the sertanejo, in which environmental determinism coexists with a process of literary mythification. In this sense, alterity emerges as a discursive construction structured by the very functioning of the lexicon and by the metaphorical networks that organize the text. Situated within the field of literary and cultural studies, the work adopts an interdisciplinary perspective that articulates stylistics, conceptual metaphor theory, and lexical analysis, aiming to show how language contributes to the consolidation of a long-standing cultural model within the Brazilian imaginary.