PORTUGUESE LANGUAGE TENSIONS AND CONTRADICTIONS IN DIASPORIC CONTEXTS: ETHNOGRAPHIC AND CONFESSIONAL NARRATIVES IN GREATER BOSTON

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the entanglements of “Portuguese” in a diasporic context and its recognition as a heritage language. Through a collaborative research at the disciplinary intersection between anthropology, sociolinguistics and education, located in a small territory in Greater Boston and marked by an older Azorean immigration, the analysis is organized on two complementary levels: a local, socio-spatial and community, in an ethnographic narrative, and another one more individual, anchored in a personal-linguistic trajectory, in an autobiographical narrative. The discussion emphasizes the role of the ideological dimension, transversal to the various points analyzed, opening for a critical reflection on Portuguese as a heritage language in the United States.