Where Have All the Indios Gone? A Critical Discourse Analysis of the Brazilian Telenovela 'A Muralha' and Its Indigenous Representation

Master's Thesis from the year 2014 in the subject Romance Studies - Latin American Studies, grade: 1,0, University of Bremen, language: English, abstract: Telenovelas, which are also known as novelas, are an integral part of Brazil's culture. Especially the productions of Brazil's biggest and most influential television network, Rede Globo (Globo network), are nationally and internationally broadcasted. Thus, novelas have become one of the major sources of worldwide impressions of Brazil (Page 1995: 455). Novelas tend also to have a great impact on their Brazilian audience. Interestingly, Indigenous people are rarely depicted in those programs, or in any other types of television programs for that matter. The subject of this master thesis is in what manner Indigenous people and languages are presented in Brazilian telenovelas, especially 'A Muralha'. Several authors were source of inspiration to create this Critical Discourse Analysis, but it must be said that the most important influence was Teun van Dijk's discourse on racism in Latin America. The first chapter of this master thesis introduces the motivations for this study and gives some general information about the Indigenous peoples and languages of Brazil. The second chapter deals with the Brazilian telenovela as a whole. Not only are its origins and plots explained, but also its socio-cultural impact. The third chapter describes the telenovela A Muralha, which was the subject of the empirical study, in its setup, production and reception by the viewers and critics. In the aforesaid chapter, there is the novela's plot given as well as a summary of all episodes that were included in the discourse analysis and a short summary about its production and media impact. The fourth chapter focuses on the Critical Discourse Analysis. It is further divided into four subchapters. Design and Procedure of the analysis are explained in the first subchapter. The second subchapter is about how people are represented in the aforesaid telenovela. Thus, it deals with language and identity. The third subchapter issues semiotic choices and issues strategies that are used in the visual communication method of the telenovela. Results of the Critical Discourse Analysis are also included in that chapter. The fifth chapter discusses the depiction of Indigenous peoples and their cultures in Brazilian television by taking the example of A Muralha (The Great Wall). The sixth chapter gives an outlook on how the Indigenous depiction in Brazilian television will probably develop in the next few years in comparison to how it should develop.