"Chico Bento": Linguistic Marking and National Identity in Brazilian Comics

Abstract

The main character of the popular Brazilian comic book Chico Bento is a country boy whose speech is depicted in an eye dialect of caipira, a rural dialect centered in the interior of São Paulo and Minas Gerais, states in Southeastern Brazil. The author highlights Chico's speech in order to describe social difference and relations resulting from widespread rural-urban migration. This linguistic marking is essential to the location of caipira culture in Brazilian national identity. The caipira is portrayed as a source of nostalgia, representing a common, rural past, and as such serves as a resource for nation building; however, caipiras are also depicted as an obstacle to modernity in contemporary Brazilian society.