A língua espanhola como dispositivo de exclusão social em Me llamo Rigoberta Menchú y así me nació la conciencia

Abstract

The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate, through excerpts from the biography of Rigoberta Menchú, entitled Me llamo Rigoberta Menchú y así me nació la conciencia, the meanings that suggest the Spanish language as a power device, which leads to the exclusion of the Maya-Quiché Indians in Guatemala. The theoretical background is based on the socio-history of Guatemala, as regards the colonial linguistic heritage of the country, supported by Böckler (2001), Böckler & Herbert (2002) Böckler, Castillo, Paz & Quemé (2005), Grosfoguel (2008), and Prenafeta (2014). This dialogues with the concepts of device of power, power, and power relations (FOUCAULT, (2008; 2012; 2014), complemented by the discussions about these concepts according to Revel (2005), Agamben (2009), Machado (2012), Fernandes Junior & Sousa (2014), and Carvalho & Sargentini (2014). The questions that guided the research were: 1) how does the Spanish language work as a power device in the biography of Rigoberta Menchú?, and 2) what are the meaning effects that the Spanish language produces as a power device? The results point to the Spanish language as a power device that defines who is included and who is excluded from the Guatemalan society. Power relations that are built from the knowledge of the language seem to establish those inclusions and exclusions. As a result, many Maya-Quichés indigenous communities live on the margin of society.