Estudo filológico-lexical de um ofício do governador da capitania do Ceará sob a perspectiva da análise do discurso crítica

Abstract

This article aims to conduct a lexical study of a document written by the Governor of the Captaincy of Ceará, Bernardo Manuel de Vasconcelos, in 1800, using the philological method and the perspective of Critical Discourse Analysis. The document is located in the Overseas Historical Archives (AHU), and is available online for any researcher. The document is addressed to the Secretary of State for Navy and Overseas Affairs, D. Rodrigo de Sousa Coutinho, and reports the cause of the desertion of the “Indians” from the villages of Ceará, where they were living. Based on the authority’s report, we formulate the following question: how do the lexical elements materialize the colonizing discourse of power and domination against the natives in the aforementioned text? The theoretical-methodological path taken to support our article was structured on the interfaces between Philology (Spina, 1977; Banza, 2017; Ximenes, 2020; Gumbrecht, 2021; Warren, 2023), lexical studies (Biderman, 1996; Abbade, 2012; Aragão, 2016) and the assumptions of Critical Discourse Analysis (van Dijk, 2013; Wodak, 2003 and 2016). The findings in the present investigation direct us to understand some aspects that answer our question: (i) the lexicon used by the scriptor contributes to a negative characterization of native peoples, suggesting inferiority in relation to European customs; (ii) considering the socio-historical context of colonization, the scriptor discursively mischaracterizes the practices of native peoples and, at the same time, justifies domination and, consequently, the need to protect the indigenous peoples under their control. We hope to contribute with critical analyses in the field of philological studies, in dialogue with lexical and discursive studies of historical texts, especially those that refer to the native peoples of Brazil whose discourses of the institutions of power endure over time and still resonate today.