Língua exótica: a libras como um dispositivo de condução

Abstract

Based on the concept of exoticization as a technique of existence-driving, this thesis analyzes the historical trajectory and discursive practices that shaped linguistic governance in the history of deaf education in Brazil. It is a documentary bibliographical research that relies on compiling a historical archive encompassing the proceedings and supplementary records from international congresses about deaf education between 1878 and 1980. The main objective is to construct the exotic and linguistic exoticization concept to examine how the historical trajectory and discursive practices in the history of deaf education enabled forms of governmentality. The specific objectives are: i) Conceptually structure exoticization as a lens for analyzing discursive practices; ii) Delimit the idea of a historical archive as a multifaceted set of organized sources for weaving history; iii) Engage in reflections on how perspectives on sign languages allow for the emergence of alternative ways of being deaf. The archive's bibliographical materials allow for an exploration of the Brazilian colonial period to the machinery of linguistic governance of the Modern State, with its reverberations on the sociopolitical aspects of deaf people and Brazilian Sign Language - Libras. The reflections are woven within the scope of authors in Foucauldian Studies, Deaf Studies, and Historical Sociolinguistics, employing the concepts of governmentality and counterconduct as analytical tools. The notion of the exotic is conceived as an invention strengthened by colonial invasions to characterize groups diverging from the white-European sociocultural standard. Thus, the practice of a understanding marked by exoticization takes on three historical facets: colonial exotic – focusing on the domination and exploitation of labor; docile exotic – focusing on the capture and docility of bodies subjected to State machinery and; counter-conduct exotic – focusing on the protagonism and subversion of governance techniques for historical reclamation and self-management for a deaf way of being in and through sign language. The thesis contributes to a modern understanding of Libras as an exotic language, i.e., a philosophical perception denoting an existence marked by governmental strategies that not only subject but also produce resistance and counterconduct among Brazilian deaf individuals, enabling the maintenance of deaf life within difference, operating within inclusive rationality. Keywords: Special Education; Deaf Education; History; Exoticization.