Historiographical metafiction of language contacts in the Brazilian Portuguese language formation

Abstract

Historiographical metafiction (HUTCHEON, 1991) poses questions about the truth placed by official historiography and points out that there are truths now told through the voices of characters erased and silenced by official histories. Therefore, in this perspective, this article aims, as an unfolding from the historiographical metafiction theory (HUTCHEON, 1991) and based on (socio)linguistic theories (MATTOS E SILVA, 2004; LUCCHESI, 2009, 2017, 2019; CALLOU; LUCCHESI, 2020; LUCCHESI; CALLOU, 2020), to analyze the novel Um defeito de cor, by Ana Maria Gonçalves (2021[2006]) – a Brazilian author who lives in Minas Gerais –, as a historiographical metafiction of the linguistic contacts that occurred in the formation of Brazil, and consequently of Brazilian Portuguese language. This proposal shows us the need for an intersection between Literature and Linguistic Theories, given the fact that fictional narratives can be used as a support for several debates, in Literature/Brazilian Portuguese courses, about the socio-historical contexts of Brazilian Portuguese language formation, considering, especially, the lack of good film production illustrating this period.