Designações espaciais em letras de canções gauchescas : construção de sentido no processo de leitura

Abstract

Gauchesque (or gaucho) culture has close links with the geographic formation of the state of Rio Grande do Sul (RS) and this is represented, for example, in gauchesque songs, when geotopological forms (such as relief, vegetation and hydrography) are mentioned to refer to the state as a whole. Likewise, geopolitical contours are referred to as cities, as the state itself or its cardinal position in Brazil. The general aim of this thesis is to examine the construction of meanings and interpretations of spatial designators (DE) of lyrics of gaucho songs, as evidenced from the reading of two categories of readers: those related to traditionalist movements and those not related to them. The problem that guides this investigation is: what constructions of meanings and interpretations are revealed in spatial designators related to RS in gaucho song lyrics, as observed in certain categories of readers? This thesis deals with the idea of reading as interpretation, based on Cognitive Linguistics to reflect on how individuals interpret different words in regional songs, when arranged in different statements, using data from researches by Barcelona (2003), Evans (2009), Fillmore (2009), Geeraerts (2009), Panther and Thornburg (2007), Panther (2006), Silva (2010), Taylor (2009) and Teixeira (2001). In order to achieve it main goal, the investigation includes research on the history of gaucho musicography (in order to contextualize, select and justify the set of songs used), lexicographic research (in order to check how the meanings of designators are registered in dictionaries), field research (by means of a questionnaire and interviews, in order to analyze how the informants-readers interpret the words), introspective analysis (from the perspective of the researcher) and analysis of the answers to the questionnaire and interviews. This set of researches and analyses has evidenced that DEs are seen, mostly, as metonymic processes in which the PARTS of the state of RS represent the WHOLE. In addition, as an answer to the question of this investigation, the individuals related to traditionalist movements have shown greater sensitivity in their interpretations, assigning DEs more details and traces of affection, while those in the category not related to traditionalist movements tended to construct broader generic meanings.