“And to know the general language of indigenous people”: linguistic reconfigurations in indigenous villages of the captaincy of Bahia

ABSTRACT

In the second half of the 18th century, the language policy laid down by the Directory of the Indians, or Pombalino, provided for the compulsory use and teaching of the Portuguese language, as well as the prohibition of indigenous languages and, in particular, the so-called general language. When the Directory was confirmed and extended to the State of Brazil, the special court of the Overseas Council, installed in Bahia, was in charge of taking the necessary measures to implement this new indigenous policy of the government of D. José I. Taking into account the "civility" of the indigenous populations that the government of José I wanted to achieve, this work discusses the linguistic policy expressed in the Directory and its forms of implementation through the "school for indigenous" in the villages erected in the Captaincy of Bahia, fundamental variables for the understanding of the advance of the Portuguese language in these spaces and its implications, which does not mean the immediate disappearance of the indigenous languages. From the perspective of a social history of written culture, it is reflected on the agencies of the indigenous villagers and the strategies of negotiations and resistance to the process of "civilization" expressed in the indigenous policy of the Portuguese Crown with regard to the management of languages, which are manifested in the continuing uses of indigenous languages.

Keywords:
Captaincy of Bahia; indigenous villages; linguistic policies; Directory of indians; general language