Expanding domains of English: a dialogue with Black feminism

Abstract

This article reflects on how racially and economically marginalized groups can appropriate sociolinguistic resources historically dominated by elites, such as English. By reconfiguring legitimized domains of circulation and the functions of these resources within structures of domination, members of these groups can redirect them toward emancipatory purposes. Based on the discursive practices of three Black Brazilian feminists — Marielle Franco, Anielle Franco, and Pamella Passos — and especially on their intertextual engagements with Conceição Evaristo’s notion of escrevivência, I discuss how English and other semiotic resources, such as institutional literacies, have been reinscribed by them into alternative, affective, and collective domains. Rather than seeking passive inclusion in legitimized spaces, these intellectuals construct insurgent forms of presence, promote critical intrusion into hegemonic domains, and reposition language as a practice of survival, listening, and hope. Rooted in the Brazilian context, these reconfigurations also resonate with transnational experiences of contesting linguistic colonialism.