Ethnographic notes on digital and language in Maré, Rio de Janeiro

Abstract

This article presents an ethnographic approach to the interactions in a Whatsapp group of a Spanish course in the favela of Maré, in Rio de Janeiro. These interactions are methodologically assumed as traces or visual marks of identification and presentation of self of the group members. When analyzing the interactions, we highlight the significance of the language in reproduction of domination relations. We describe the posts, especially those related to collective construction of a Portuguese / Spanish dictionary. The discussions in the group that emerged from the entries collected reveal questions about the supposed neutrality of the language in learning contexts. We remark the flow of the language practices beyond the oral / written / offline / online dichotomies. We also emphasize the close relations between those practices and a space usually associated with absence, poverty and violence. The article thus discuss the conditions of access and uses of the Internet in Maré from a case study. Therefore, we propose articulations between anthropological work, language uses and digital environments.