Subalternity in discursive practices of popular culture: a study of the Xucuru indigenous community

ABSTRACT

This study joins the Bakhtinian concept of circularity and the concept of discursive practice, from the Foucaultian perspective. Its aim is to analyze the (co) construction of the social identity of the subjects representing a portion of the discursive practices of Pernambuco popular culture, specifically, from the Xucuru indigenous tribe and their performances of the toré ritual. The methodology used was based on field research and consisted of the following steps: i) observation of the performances of the toré ritual of the Xucuru indigenous tribe in Pesqueira-PE; ii) elaboration of interviews, in loco, with the social subjects representing this community; and iii) collation of historical material about the Xucuru tribe. Results show that the social identity of the Xucuru indigenous tribe is socially and politically transformed and is (co)built by the circularity of discourses which, in turn, materialize through linguistic referents found in the text.

Keywords:
popular culture; circularity; social identity; discursive practice