por Ariel Montes Lima__
OUT OF LANGUAGE:
AN ESSAY ABOUT NON-BINARY BODIES
ABSTRACT
In this essay, I investigate the problem around the representation and effective identification of non-binary people into the Latin Modern Languages. For develop this research, I used the corpora analyse focused on the personal 3rd pronouns in different language structures. At the same time, I emphasize my interesse for this field started by my personal experience being a non-binary professor and researcher.
Keywords:
Identity. Non-binary. Representation.
RESUMO
Neste ensaio, investigo o problema em torno da representação e identificação efetiva de pessoas não binárias nas línguas modernas latinas. Para desenvolver esta pesquisa, utilizei a análise de corpora focada nos pronomes pessoais de terceira pessoa em diferentes estruturas linguísticas. Ao mesmo tempo, enfatizo meu interesse por este campo, que começou com minha experiência pessoal como professor e pesquisador non-binary.
Palavras-chave:
Identidade. Não binário. Representação.
Introduction
Normally sounds a little strange to me write in English. It happens because I – like a good South American – usually reject this language in my routine. However, recently, this context began to change. In the end of August, my orienteer called me and proposed to me start to give Portuguese classes to a new professor at our university. He was a young researcher from China, with who I am learning so much. Not just about his culture, but – effectively – about myself.
In this context, my reflection started when I found myself perceiving I could not explain what I am just using my native language: the Portuguese. The reason for this is because my mother language is divided in two evident genders: feminine and masculine. But, of my part, I every time feel this structure said more about the culture where I am not more of an outsider. For this case (and it was surprising to me) I discovered me most comfortable using the Anglo Saxonian languagel to talk about the world and the people.
Going by this way, my purpose in this essay is to reflex about a fundamental problem lived for my community: the difficult to find a realist representation of our identities using the rigid structures of our Latin Languages. To realize it, I recurred to a bibliographical research and corpora analyse, used by start point to construct the theorical reflection. I evidence also this text doesn’t pretend finished the several possibilities to approach this colossal theme. Nevertheless, I objective contribute to the expansion of the deepness of the dialog across the personal experience of a non-binary researcher.
Development
According to Chew et al. (2020), a non-binary person is defined like a subject who doesn’t identify himself like woman or man. It means the non-binarity is an “umbrella” term to a lot of different possibilities of modes to be. It means this condition is so plural and not possible to be defined just by one kind of individual.
Repapering my first motive, I would define better how the problem of gender is present in the Latin modern languages. In general terms, we, users of these systems are submitted to the structure of just two forms of gender. It can be verify observing the personal pronouns of 3rd person in the next examples. For composing the corpora, I recurred to the Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, Italian, French, Galician, Romanian and the Esperanto. This last language, while be an artificial construction, wakes up the interesse because it takes a structure according to the binary Romance Languages.
a) Spanish:
Singular: él (M) – ella (F)
Plural: ellos (M) – ellas (F)
Ex.: Ella es una chica guapa.
Él es un chico guapo.
Ellas son chicas guapas.
Ellos son chicos guapos.
b) Portuguese:
Singular: ele (M) – ela (F)
Plural: eles (M) – elas (F)
Ex.: Ela é uma menina bonita.
Ele é um menino bonito.
Elas são meninas bonitas.
Eles são meninos bonitos.
c) Catalan:
Singular: ell (M) – Elle (F)
Plural: ells (M) – elles (F)
Ex.: Ell es un nen bonit.
Elle es una nena bonita.
Ells son nens bonits.
Ellas son nenas bonitas.
d) Italian:
Singular: lui (M) – lei (F)
Plural: loro (Unissex)
Ex.: Lei è una ragazza bela.
Lui è un ragazzo bello.
Loro sono ragazze belle.
e) French:
Singular: il (M) – elle (F)
Plural: ills (M) – elles (F)
Ex.: Il est un beau garçon
Elle est une belle garçonne
Ils sont des beaux garçons
Elles sont des belles garçonnes
f) Galician:
Singular: el (M) – ela (F)
Plural: eles (M) – elas (F)
Ex.: El é un neno bonito.
Ela é una nena bonita.
Eles son uns nenos bonitos.
Elas son unhas nenas bonitas.
g) Romanian:
Singular: el (M) – ea (F)
Plural: ei (M) – ele (F, M, N)
Ex.: El este un băiat frumos.
Ea este o fată frumoasă.
Ei sunt băieți frumoși.
Ele sunt fete frumoase.
h) Esperanto (*):
Singular: li (M) – ŝi (F)
Plural: ili (Unissex)
Ex.: Li estas bela knabo.
Ŝi estas bela knabino.
Ili estas belaj knaboj.
Ili estas belaj knabinoj.
Effectively, these examples contribute to turn more evident the structures I am debating. By this way, it’s relevant add what defend Lucy (1997) about the linguistic relativity hypothesis, “the proposal that the particular language we speak influences the way we think about reality, forms one part of the broader question of how language influences thought”.
Yet in this sense, “Boas suggests the view that culture can shape the form of language, if required, but morphological traits of a language cannot condition culture” (Sharifian, 2017). So, it’s possible theorise the forms to refer to social performances has a narrow relationship between the culture and the expression. Furthermore, Lima (2023) asserts the non-binary bodies live in a non-named place (in linguistic terms).
Expanding this idea, I present other possibilities to the gender representation. Right now, in the German Languages. For my next examples, I recurred to the English, Neerland, German and Swedish.
a) English:
Singular: he (M) – she (F) – it (N)
Plural: they (M, F, N)
Ex.: He is a handsome boy.
She is a beautiful girl.
They are handsome boys.
They are beautiful girls.
b) Neerland:
Singular: hij (M) - zij (F) - het (N)
Plural: zij (M, F, N)
Ex.: Hij is een knappe jongen.
Zij is een mooi meisje.
Zij zijn knappe jongens.
Zij zijn mooie meisjes.
c) German:
Singular: er (M) – sie (F) – es (N)
Plural: sie (M, F, N)
Ex.: Er ist ein hübscher Junge.
Sie ist ein schönes Mädchen.
Sie sind hübsche Jungen.
Sie sind schöne Mädchen.
d) Swedish:
Singular: han (M) – hon (F) – den/det (N)
Plural: de (M, F, N)
Ex.: Han är en snygg pojke.
Hon är en vacker flicka.
De är snygga pojkar.
De är vackra flickor.
Analysing these other examples, it is possible verify the fundamental difference present in the German Languages. This is: the presence of a third gender possibility. Although be called “neutral”, the 3rd form is more of just a mode to refer unpersonal been. Actually, the uses of 3rd gender are very irregular into those diverse languages. For example, in German the article des is used to accompany substantives like Kind, what is a neutral gender noun. At the same time, the use of the preposition the in English has no relationship of the neutral perception of neutrality of the child identity. It means say the different uses are submitted to distinct cultural rules. That are in accord with some underlying pacts (Ocker, 2022).
Still about the pronominal structure and gender marking, finally, I bring my last examples. For this I took more three languages from Asia: Japanese, Korean and Mandarin.
a) Japanese
Singular: かれ (kare) (M) - かのじょ (kanojo) (F)
Plural: かれら (karera) (M) - かのじょたち (kanojotachi) (F)
Ex.: かのじょはきれいなおんなのこです (Kanojo wa kirei na onnanoko desu.)
かれはかっこいいしょうねんです。 (Kare wa kakkoii shōnen desu.) -
かのじょたちはきれいなおんなのこたちです。 (Kanojotachi wa kirei na onnanokotachi desu.)
かれらはかっこいいしょうねんたちです。 (Karera wa kakkoii shōnentachi desu.)
b) Korean
Singular: 그 (geu) (M) - 그녀 (geunyeo) (F)
Plural: 그들 (geudeul) (M) - 그녀들 (geunyeodeul) (F)
Ex.: 그는 잘생긴 소년입니다. (Geuneun jalsaenggin sonyeonimnida.)
그녀는 아름다운 소녀입니다. (Geunyeoneun areumdaun sonyeoimnida.)
그들은 잘생긴 소년들입니다. (Geudeureun jalsaenggin sonyeondeulimnida.)
그녀들은 아름다운 소녀들입니다. (Geunyeodeureun areumdaun sonyeodeulimnida.)
c) Mandarin
Singular: 他 (tā) (M) - 她 (tā) (F)
Plural: 他们 (tāmen) (M) - 她们 (tāmen) (F)
Ex.: 她是一个漂亮的女孩。 (Tā shì yīgè piàoliang de nǚhái.)
他是一个帅气的男孩。 (Tā shì yīgè shuàiqì de nánhái.)
她们是漂亮的女孩。 (Tāmen shì piàoliang de nǚhái.)
他们是帅气的男孩。 (Tāmen shì shuàiqì de nánhái.)
Out this fixed forms, today, is possible find other new tries to use a most representative language. For this reason, has been created some new pronouns in the Latin Languages, like: elle (Spanish) and elu/ile/ilo (Portuguese). The problem of this modes is the difficult to insert an external (and ideological) structure into the traditional and internalized configuration of the speech. It is: introduce a new mode to use the first language (L1) can be a challenge to native speakers (Schwindt, 2020).
While about the difficult to introduce the normal use of inclusive pronouns, Souza (2020) adds the movement to start the use of neutral gender in Portuguese is yet incipient. Second the author, Brazil is living just a discursive state in the way to insert the 3rd gender in the Portuguese structure.
Finaly, it’s evident the arriving to an absolute answer is not possible to address the problem in question here. But, also, the difference between these forms reveals other kinds to see the reality. This is: new possibilities to think the world, a little more comprehensive. It can happen because the relationship constructed between the self and the Other is permeated for the language.
With this, I want to say just I -like a polyglot- found myself better, in terms of identity, more using other forms of expression, what not my L1. That was my surprise when I used, for the first time, the pronoun they to refer me to myself.
Final considerations
This essay pretended reflex about the identity representation of non-binary people. For construct the text, I recurred to the corpora analyse. To compose the different examples, I divided the languages in three groups: Latin Languages, German Languages and Asiatic Languages. Anyways, was possible perceive a faithful representation is not able in face of the rigid language structures here analysed.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES
CHEW, Denise et al. Youths with a non-binary gender identity: a review of their sociodemographic and clinical profile. The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, v. 4, n. 4, p. 322-330, 2020.
LIMA, Ariel Montes. A solidão do corpo trans: propedêuticas para uma reflexão epistemológica. Revista Mirada, 27 July, 2023.
LUCY, John A. Linguistic relativity. Annual review of anthropology, v. 26, n. 1, p. 291-312, 1997.
OCKER, Ariel Von. Ensaios Sobre Relativismo Linguístico. São Paulo: Arche, 2022.
SCHWINDT, Luiz Carlos da Silva. Sobre gênero neutro em português brasileiro e os limites do sistema linguístico. Revista da ABRALIN. [São Cristóvão, SE]. Vol. 19, n. 1 (2020), p. 1-23, 2020.
SHARIFIAN, Farzad. Cultural linguistics and linguistic relativity. Language Sciences, v. 59, p. 83-92, 2017.
SOUZA, Carlos André Neves Alexandre de. Gênero Neutro: Um Movimento Para Mudança Da Língua. Trabalho de Conclusão de Curso. UFPB. João Pessoa, 2021.
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Ariel Montes Lima é pessoa non-binary, psicanalista e professora. Autora dos livros Poemas de Ariel (TAUP, 2022), Sínteses: Entre o Poético e o Filosófico (Worges Ed., 2022), Ensaios Sobre o Relativismo Linguístico (Arche, 2022), Poemas da Arcádia (Caravana, 2023).
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