Chapter 9. Discursive constructions of deviance in the narratives of a prison inmate
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Liana de Andrade Biar
Abstract
This chapter aims at identifying a specific type of discourse about violence: the stories of adherence to drug trafficking, their emergence in the research context and the processes of identity construction resulting from said context. The data comes from fieldwork done during 2009 in one of the main prison institutions in Brazil. Interviews were realized with inmate members of Rio de Janeiro criminal gangs who attended the prison school. These interviews were then qualitatively analyzed, from a micro-perspective approach, in light both of studies on oral narratives, based on interactional sociolinguistics, and of identity studies, especially those which consider narrative discourse as a privileged locus for social identity construction and analysis. From the analysis of the narratives’ structure systems of coherence, it was possible to understand the way in which inmates neutralize the force of values and of accepting order so as to give new meaning to deviant actions, as being pleasant or respectable.
Abstract
This chapter aims at identifying a specific type of discourse about violence: the stories of adherence to drug trafficking, their emergence in the research context and the processes of identity construction resulting from said context. The data comes from fieldwork done during 2009 in one of the main prison institutions in Brazil. Interviews were realized with inmate members of Rio de Janeiro criminal gangs who attended the prison school. These interviews were then qualitatively analyzed, from a micro-perspective approach, in light both of studies on oral narratives, based on interactional sociolinguistics, and of identity studies, especially those which consider narrative discourse as a privileged locus for social identity construction and analysis. From the analysis of the narratives’ structure systems of coherence, it was possible to understand the way in which inmates neutralize the force of values and of accepting order so as to give new meaning to deviant actions, as being pleasant or respectable.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Investigating violence in language 1
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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
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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
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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
