The sense of ‘being indeginous’: discursive practices in the struggle for territory in the current brazilian political scenario

Abstract

In this article, we intend to discuss the discursive practices conveyed by news sites, between government and indigenous peoples, in the struggle for the Territory in the current Brazilian political scenario. For this, we approach the senses of being Indian in Brazil, in other words, the indigenous (trans) formation of identity, as well as certain discursive practices involving the indigenous, in the middle of the national political debate about the (non) demarcation and exploitation of indigenous lands. Authors such as Maher (1998, 2007), Cuche (2002), Bakhtin (2003), Bakhtin e Volochinov (2006), Stuart Hall (2015), among others, guide the discussion about identity and culture. Situated in the ‘Discourse Analysis’, we base the notion of discourse on a Foucaultian perspective (Foucault, 1995; 2007; 2014), in order to problematize the power relations between government and indigenous populations. What we realize is that in the power struggle, in resistance movements, indigenous identity is affirmed and sustained, strengthening, more and more, the sense of being Indian. Discourse analysts, who try to show the contradictions and problematize the evidence of meaning, have a duty to contribute to more efficient discursive practices in the struggle against hegemonic discourses.