Amadeu Amaral and the question of identity: A small homage to the centenary of O Dialeto Caipira

Abstract

O Dialeto Caipira of Amadeu Amaral (1920), always referred to as seminal in the dialectological studies of Portuguese in Brazil, completes a century in this year 2020. In this paper, which intends to be more than a mere tribute to the author and his work, we will analyze, in a discursive perspective of the History of Linguistic Ideas (AUROUX, 2009; ORLANDI, 2001; MAINGENEAU, 2010) in Brazil and considering the outlines of Folk Linguistics (NIEDZIELSKI; PRESTON, 2003), the question of the caipira’s identity, pointing to linguistic marks that remained throughout this time. In a comparative table that intertwines two distinct times, we will analyze excerpts from the documentary Saberes do Vale (2018), verifying in the statements of the residents of Vale do Paraíba characteristics previously recorded by Amadeu Amaral. Starting from the definition of Caipira proposed in O Dialeto, a definition that presents the question of identity as a categorical property, we will try to verify the persistence of marks of subjectivity (and not only linguistic patterns) in the speech and living of these inhabitants of São Paulo.