Imagens de si no discurso sobre o trabalho doméstico : entre o prescrito e o real na atividade

Abstract

This interdisciplinary research study concerns the construction of the discursive ethos and scenography in housework, focusing on cleaning ladies’ language in their constitution as subjects in and by language, discussing the social role of these working women in the daily life context of their work activities. The thesis defended in this study is that the worker, by enunciating herself, constitutes a discursive ethos and scenography that arise from a socio historical memory about housework, which is perpetuated in social, ethnical-racial and gender inequalities in the Brazilian society. This study aims to describe and analyze how the scenography’s from which the discursive ethos arise are constructed, as images of oneself, emanated in language practices about work in the cleaning ladies’ discourse, taking into consideration the constant debate over rules and values that characterize this work activity. The literature review presents an interface between Ergology (SCHWARTZ, 2010a; 2010b; 2010c; 2011), focusing on the relation between Language and Work, and Maingueneau discourse utterance theory (2008a; 2008b; 2010; 2020). This is a qualitative study that counts with applied research, literature review, field research and documentary research. The analyzed corpora comprise individual interviews done with four cleaning workers and four discursive parts from the work I, cleaning lady: the modern slave house is the maid’s dormitory (Eu, empregada doméstica: a senzala moderna é o quartinho da empregada), besides the booklet Cleaning workers: rights and duties (Trabalhadores domésticos: direitos e deveres) (MINISTRY OF LABOR AND SOCIAL SECURITY, 2015), in which it is stated the rules to be followed by employers and which constitute the discursive universe of housework. In terms of results, I point out that the language about work demonstrated how the daily life of a maid is constituted and revealed the dramatic use of the body-self in this activity. In addition, the linguistic clues analyzed enabled the construction of scenography’s from which emanate discursive ethos arising from the prescribed norm, the workers and the employer's anti-ethos that revealed signaling marks of a society that is still based on a slave-owning model of labor relations.