Reaching an agreement through Brazilian way of dealing with problems

Authors

  • Carolina Scali Abritta UERJ - Faculdade de Formação de Professores
  • Maria do Carmo Leite de Oliveira Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro

Abstract

“Jeitinho brasileiro” (Brazilian way of dealing with problems) has been described, in anthropological studies, as a usual practice in Brazilian culture to circumvent bureaucratic and legal impasses. This article offers an interactional perspective on this practice. Focus here is on how mediators use jeitinho to conclude an agreement between the complainant and complained in conciliation hearings involving consumer relations, by analyzing recorded and transcribed oral speech data. In light of the contributions of studies of talk-in-interaction, we examine how this strategy be discursively accomplished in this type of activity. The results show that even in the legal context, the jeitinho emerges, within a continuum, as a kind of action that is sometimes seen close to corruption sometimes close to favor exchanges. 

Key words: mediation, talk-in-interaction, consume relations, jeitinho.

Author Biographies

Carolina Scali Abritta, UERJ - Faculdade de Formação de Professores

Graduada em Direito e Letras, é doutora em Letras pela PUC-Rio e mestre nesta mesma área pela UFJF. Atualmente, é professora adjunta  do departamento de Letras da Faculdade de Formação de Professores da UERJ.

Maria do Carmo Leite de Oliveira, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro

Maria do Carmo Leite de Oliveira é doutora em Linguística pela PUC-Rio, com estágios de pesquisa na Universidade de Lisboa. É professora Associada do Programa de Pós-Graduação do Departamento de Letras da PUC-Rio e dos cursos de Especialização do  IAG- a Escola de Negócios da PUC-Rio. É pesquisadora do CNPq e atua também como membro da equipe de consultoria empresarial do IAG.  Seus interesses de pesquisa envolvem tópicos relacionados à  linguagem e interação em contextos profissionais, com destaque para o contexto empresarial. Sua publicação mais recente é  E-mail messaging in the corporate sector: tensions between technological affordances and rapport management In: Candlin, C. Sarangi, S. (orgs). Handbook of Applied Linguistics: Communication in the Professions and Organizations. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter . 2011  

Downloads

Published

2012-08-15

How to Cite

Abritta, C. S., & de Oliveira, M. do C. L. (2012). Reaching an agreement through Brazilian way of dealing with problems. Calidoscópio, 10(2), 186–193. Retrieved from https://www.revistas.unisinos.br/index.php/calidoscopio/article/view/cld.2012.102.06

Issue

Vol. 10 No. 2 (2012): May/August

Section

Articles

License

I grant the journal Calidoscópio the first publication of my article, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution license (which allows sharing of work, recognition of authorship and initial publication in this journal).

I confirm that my article is not being submitted to another publication and has not been published in its entirely on another journal. I take full responsibility for its originality and I will also claim responsibility for charges from claims by third parties concerning the authorship of the article.

I also agree that the manuscript will be submitted according to the journal’s publication rules described above.