Estereótipo e generalização do Nordeste : a imitação das vogais pretônicas na novela A Indomada

Abstract

In this work, I analyzed how pretonic mid vowels are pronounced by non-Northeastern actors in a Brazilian audiovisual production, with the aim of discovering whether there is recourse to stereotypes or generalizations of Northeastern speech. Pretonic vowels are a highly variable element in the various forms of Brazilian Portuguese, and in Northeastern speech, they are usually distinguished by their greater openness, serving as material for inaccurate and sometimes stigmatizing characterizations and imitations in audiovisual productions. Thus, based on a corpus taken from the soap opera A Indomada, I observed how the front and back pretonic vowels are being imitated by non-Northeastern actors, analyzing the linguistic and extralinguistic environments in which they occur, trying to identify whether the imitation is configured as a stereotype or a generalization of Northeastern speech. Among the results obtained in the qualitative analysis, I concluded that the speech of the northeastern characters in the soap opera appears, most of the time, in a stereotypical way, that is, there is na exaggeration or imprecision in the opening of the vowels that come before the stressed syllables; and, further, that generalization is also present in the speeches, given the erasure of the internal diversity of northeastern speech. I suggest that, given the centrality of linguistic expression in the perception and self-perception of identities and belongings, the stereotype or generalization of northeastern speeches is, at the same time, a stereotype or generalization of the Northeast.