Elsevier

Language Sciences

Volume 52, November 2015, Pages 12-21
Language Sciences

Slurs and the indexical field: the pejoration and reclaiming of favelado ‘slum-dweller’

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.langsci.2014.06.021Get rights and content

Highlights

  • We discuss terminologies used for and trajectories of linguistic (re)taking.

  • We adapt Eckert's (2008) indexical field model for socially-charged lexical items.

  • We explain the differences between two place-based synonyms as indexical.

  • Patterns exist in online negotiations of meaning of socially-charged words.

  • The ameliorated usage of favelado is different from that of other slurs.

Abstract

We consider the application of the indexical field (Eckert, 2008) and orders of indexicality (Silverstein, 2003) for the Brazilian Portuguese (BP) term favelado ‘slum-dweller’, which is synonymous to morador de favela ‘slum-dweller’ but has acquired negatively charged indexical values. Building on discussions of the (re)appropriation or reclaiming of slurs and other pejorized terms, such as the Cantonese word tongzhi (Wong, 2005, 2008), gay (McConnell-Ginet, 2002), queer (McConnell-Ginet, 2002), nigger (Jacobs, 2002; Camp, 2013; Croom, 2011; Washington, 2010; inter alia), this study of favelado builds on Eckert's (2008) indexical field and creates a model of lexical indexicality that explains the simultaneous availability of both pejorative and powerful meanings. The positively-valenced reclaimed meanings are contextually limited and require simultaneous access to pejorative meanings. We propose that movement, or ‘sidestepping’ (Eckert, 2008), within the indexical field fuels movement between pejorative and ameliorated meanings. This paper highlights the importance of accounting for lexical indexical values in sociolinguistic study.

Introduction

By examining the case of favelado ‘slum-dweller’ in Brazilian Portuguese, this paper explores the linguistic reclaiming of a slur within Silverstein's (2003) framework of orders of indexicality and Eckert's (2008) elaboration of the indexical field. We show that while lexical items can acquire indexical meaning in much the same way as phonological variables, the framework of indexicality requires further abstraction to include lexical items. Because of their referential value, lexical items often point outside of the speaker to objects or actions in the world, whereas phonological variables are generally thought to index qualities or stances of the speaker. Much like phonological variables, lexical items that have taken on the negative qualities associated with a stigmatized group can be adopted by that very group as a marker of solidarity (McConnell-Ginet, 2002, Wong, 2005, Wong, 2008, Croom, 2011). This process of reclaiming is the driving force behind valence change. Our research questions are thus twofold: 1) In what way does the concept of the indexical field need to be restructured to understand the indexical relationships of lexical items?, and 2) How can we account for reclaiming within a model of indexicality?

The term favelado refers to a person who lives in a favela, a slum or shanty town found in large Brazilian cities, existing alongside morador de favela (literally ‘inhabitant of the slum’). Unlike morador de favela, the term favelado is frequently used as an adjective to refer to negative qualities associated with slum-dwellers, making possible its use as a slur. In this paper, we propose that favelado is distinct from the purported synonym morador de favela in associated indexical values. Using Silverstein's (2003) and Eckert's (2008) models of indexicality, we propose that morador de favela maintains the referential value exclusively—reflecting membership in the group known as ‘slum dwellers’—while favelado invites a variety of additional socially-imposed connotations. The development of favelado parallels that of ‘ghetto’ in American English in that the name for a marginalized space comes to index societally-perceived characteristics of the place and its population. While words that refer to disadvantaged populations—such as queer, nigger, and others—often become slurs, little research has been done to systematize the metamorphosis of these terms from an indexical viewpoint. Furthermore, since the reclaiming of favelado follows a different trajectory than that of other slurs, in that the retaking is not done by slum-dwellers themselves, we offer a new perspective for the analysis of the (re)appropriation of pejorized lexical items.

Section snippets

Background

In his early work on indexes in morphosyntactic structures, Silverstein (1976) briefly discusses lexical items and argues that their content cannot be fully accounted for through semantic analysis. In further developing this idea, Silverstein (2003) proposes a model of indexicality in which macro social structures are mapped onto linguistic features or forms. Accordingly, indexicality is represented by a series of orderings, such that the n-th order exists as a base on which social meaning can

Data

Our analysis is based on meta-discursive synchronic evidence that includes discussions and definitions of favelado presented and analyzed for indexical and intertextual meanings. Our data for the n-th order meanings draw on academic and institutional sources, which use the term favelado to refer to a cross-section of the Brazilian population (e.g., Gondim, 1982; Movimento de Defesa do Favelado2). The

Online discussions problematizing favelado

In a narrow range of contexts, the use of favelado can maintain strict n-th order value. For example, organizations such as the Movimento de Defesa do Favelado [Movement for the Protection of Slum-dwellers, http://www.mdf.org.br/] use favelado to refer to the people that they aim to help. In contexts of this sort, only the n-th order meaning is understood since the institutional nature of the website does not invite the n+1 meanings found elsewhere (cf. Fig. 2 in Section 5 below).

Since favelado

n+1 meanings

The indexical field for favelado, like Eckert's (2008) field for /t/ release, is built upon socially constructed n+1 meanings.

In contrast with Eckert's (2008) analysis for a phonetic variable, we hold that lexical items with referential value function primarily to index things in the world rather than the attitude or identity of the speaker, which becomes apparent in the following example.

2.Captioning a picture in which

Amelioration & reclaiming

In this section, we consider the amelioration of favelado. Most of the second order meanings presented in the indexical field in Fig. 2 are negatively valenced due to societal ideologies surrounding this marginalized population. Ameliorated indexicals are limited to the very specific context of the Rio de Janeiro soccer team Flamengo. In this context, fans of opposing teams use favelado as an insult against the Flamengo soccer players and their fans. Instead of rejecting the insult and directly

Conclusion

This paper provides a first look at content-ful lexical items using Eckert's (2008) indexical field. While Eckert's model presents a useful foundation for understanding the relationship between multiple indexical meanings, consideration of lexical items requires a reworking of this model. Phonological variables do not have referential content in the n-th order, i.e., /t/ release is simply an optional articulation and does not contain semantic information. In contrast, lexical items contain

Acknowledgments

We greatly appreciate the generous feedback on various prior drafts provided by Scott Schwenter, Anna Babel, Emilia Alonso Sameño, and Kathryn Campbell-Kibler, as well as that of three anonymous reviewers. Thanks also to the thoughtful audiences of the NWAV 41 conference in Bloomington, IN and the Institute of the Empirical Study of Language at Ohio University in Athens, OH. Any remaining shortcomings are strictly our own.

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