Ancestral polyphony: knowledge into the discourse of indigenous peoples in Kopenawa’s voice

Abstract

In this article, we address, from a discourse perspective, the discursive ethos in the work of Indigenous leader Davi Kopenawa. Indigenous discourse is retextualized into written texts to convey knowledge to non-Indigenous people on the level of ethos, that is, the projection of the image that a speaker conveys of themselves in their discourse. The text explores ancestral polyphony, the diversity of voices in the discourse of Indigenous peoples, and how the ethos of the multiscient Indigenous is constructed by presenting knowledge in an accessible way to non-Indigenous individuals. We conclude that the transformation of discourse into written text aims to preserve memory and raise awareness of environmental issues.