Traveling through Lusophony, its social figurations and its forms of otherness. Cross analysis on African, European and American textbooks for teaching Portuguese as a NonNative Language (1975-1996)

Abstract

1975 marks a new period for Lusophony, the ensemble of territories, people, and institutions that maintain a privileged relationship with the Portuguese language. The independence of Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, and São Tomé and Príncipe brings forth an African pole in a landscape that previously had an American pole (Brazil with its continental dimensions) and a European pole (colonial ultramarine Portugal) as the main agents. At the other end, 1996, with the creation of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP), which aims at diplomatic cooperation and the expansion/consolidation of the Portuguese language around the world, serves as a reference point for the restructuring of Lusophone relations. These two dates serve as boundaries of my work. I explore these relations as they can be perceived through Portuguese as a Non-Native Language (PLNM) textbooks published in and for the mentioned seven countries. Through extensive archival research on textbooks and an interdisciplinary analytical approach, this thesis explores the forms of otherness and social figurations that connect the three poles of Lusophony. In other words, the substance for my reflections is both representations and interdependencies – two significant mediators at work during the process of language globalization. This work has led to the development of several research tools, such as a catalog consisting of nearly 450 PLNM textbooks and a framework for the study of linguistic otherness in these cultural artifacts.