A feminização do PLH: histórias de agência, pertencimento e manutenção do português como língua de herança

Abstract

This study investigates the feminization of PLH (Portuguese Language Heritage) and its intersections, and examines how Brazilian women (re)organize themselves in Portuguese to politically (re)exist in the new host society. To do so, it draws on interpretative (DENZIN; LINCOLN, 2006), and auto-ethnographic inspired analysis technics (YAZAM; CANAGARAJAH; JAIN, 2020) to qualitatively study the narratives of six Brazilian women living in the Greater Vancouver area, in the province of British Columbia. Based on – Indisciplinary (MOITA-LOPES, 1998; 2006) ) and Critical (PENNYCOOK, 1998; 2006) Applied Linguistics (DUFF, 2015) the study made use of different data generation instruments as participant observation in virtual communities, field diary, sociocultural questionnaires, in-depth interviews, and focus groups. The study draws on the concepts of agency (AHEARN, 2001; DURANTI, 2005, MAHMOOD SABA, 2019), belonging (DUSZACK, 2005; LINDE, 1993; ALSOP, 2022; SNOW, 2001, HOLMES; MARRA, 2002,), accounts (ARUNDALE, 1999; SCHIFRIN, 1994), as well as in the areas of the feminization of migration (RODRIGUEZ, VILLANÓN, CASTRO, 2019, JULIANO, 2012, GIL, 2017; GREGORIO, 2004), intersectionality (CRENSHAW, 2002; SILTANEN; DOUCET, 2017), and narrative analysis (LABOV, 1997, LINDE, 1993; DE FINNA, 2000, BAMBERG, 2002, MISHLER, 2002; BIAR, 2012, BASTOS E BIAR, 2015. The analyses reveal that it is in Portuguese, whether through maintenance, teaching or as a language of mediation in virtual communities that these women create a sense of belonging and justify their actions (accounts).Keywords: PLH. Agency. Belonging. Accounts. Intersectionality. Feminization of Migration