John Benjamins Publishing Company
Chapter 5. Racist speech as a linguistic discriminatory practice in Brazil
Abstract
Brazilian law establishes a difference between the aggravated verbal injury, which is a type of insult that makes use of words or phrases pertaining to race, color, ethnicity, religion, origin or to the condition of the elderly or disabled person, and the crime of prejudice or discrimination, which consists in practicing, inducing or inciting discrimination or prejudice based on race, color, ethnicity, religion or national origin. In this paper I intend to investigate the linguistic criteria used by the judicial system to distinguish the two crimes. Based on a survey of data on legal cases of verbal injury and on interviews with two black Brazilian activists, I also intend to demonstrate the limitation of these criteria.
Abstract
Brazilian law establishes a difference between the aggravated verbal injury, which is a type of insult that makes use of words or phrases pertaining to race, color, ethnicity, religion, origin or to the condition of the elderly or disabled person, and the crime of prejudice or discrimination, which consists in practicing, inducing or inciting discrimination or prejudice based on race, color, ethnicity, religion or national origin. In this paper I intend to investigate the linguistic criteria used by the judicial system to distinguish the two crimes. Based on a survey of data on legal cases of verbal injury and on interviews with two black Brazilian activists, I also intend to demonstrate the limitation of these criteria.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Investigating violence in language 1
-
Part I. The language of violence
- Chapter 1. The invention of violence 33
- Chapter 2. Voice and silence in the suburbs of São Paulo 57
- Chapter 3. From the side of the road to the borders of the page 79
-
Part II. The violence of language
- Chapter 4. The circulation of violence in discourse 107
- Chapter 5. Racist speech as a linguistic discriminatory practice in Brazil 125
- Chapter 6. Free speech, hate speech, and hate beards 141
-
Part III. The intersections of violence, bodies and languages
- Chapter 7. On languages, bodies and epistemic violence 171
- Chapter 8. Queering violence and narrative 189
- Chapter 9. Discursive constructions of deviance in the narratives of a prison inmate 227
- Index 249
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Investigating violence in language 1
-
Part I. The language of violence
- Chapter 1. The invention of violence 33
- Chapter 2. Voice and silence in the suburbs of São Paulo 57
- Chapter 3. From the side of the road to the borders of the page 79
-
Part II. The violence of language
- Chapter 4. The circulation of violence in discourse 107
- Chapter 5. Racist speech as a linguistic discriminatory practice in Brazil 125
- Chapter 6. Free speech, hate speech, and hate beards 141
-
Part III. The intersections of violence, bodies and languages
- Chapter 7. On languages, bodies and epistemic violence 171
- Chapter 8. Queering violence and narrative 189
- Chapter 9. Discursive constructions of deviance in the narratives of a prison inmate 227
- Index 249
