“Seje Livre”: repensando a tese como uma distopia sociolinguística

Abstract

This thesis is based on three fundamental points: the importance of valuing scientific dissemination in Brazilian universities; the consequent need to rethink the models of post-graduation final works; and the proposal to produce a fictional thesis, in the form of a narrative text. The motivations for the debates on those points arose from the observation that communication between university and society is not happening as it should, which is evidenced by the increasing devaluation of university and science by the population. It is not only today, however, that the distance between scientists and the general population is perceived. In the field of Sociolinguistics, that theme was addressed by Labov (1982), Wolfram (1998) and Charity (2008), who proposed principles for linguists to be even more part of the society, interfering in it and acting as problem solving activists to correct injustices. In Brazil, sociolinguists strive to promote dissemination actions through books with instructive content and proposals for the Portuguese language teaching. (BAGNO, 1997, 1999; BORTONI-RICARDO 2004, 2005; SCHERRE, 2005), finding restraints, however, in relation to the language and the format used. There are also initiatives on social networks whose aim is the popularization of science, taking account of the need to adapt to the communicative models of the current times. Actions like that, although commendable, are mostly individual and unrelated to the universities to which their authors belong. According to the principle of indivisibility between teaching, research and extension (BRAZIL, 1988), however, it is the role of Brazilian universities to promote academic works to achieve the three spheres that the principle contemplates. This has been occurring more frequently in undergraduate courses. In graduate courses, on the other hand, the little appreciation of university extension makes the focus of teachers and students on the production of works focused solely on research, as indicated by Rocha & Deusdará (2011). Therefore, it is necessary a reflection on the material that is being produced in graduation school, a place in which science both develops and makes progress by excellence, and which is not accessible to a majority of the population. As a first step, it is necessary to rethink the traditional models of graduate final course assignment, looking for new ways to communicate the results of what is being done within the walls of the academy to those outside it. Antunes (2015) and Menezes (2019) promoted initiatives that went beyond the production of their thesis. They produced materials that could bring sociolinguistic knowledge to the non-specialist population, aiming to combat linguistic prejudice. Taking into account the aforementioned factors, this thesis-fiction is proposed with the main purpose of being a means of disseminating concepts of Sociolinguistics through a narrative in the form of dystopia, also bringing a brief theoretical-critical reflection about the three points on which this work is based