The Decay of Written German in the Vargas Era?

Abstract

This essay deals with the use of written German in Brazil in the 20th century. The basis of this research project is a collection of private letters written by Hunsrückisch speakers during the Vargas Era. The purpose of this study is to identify to what extent Hunsrückisch speakers used a single written standard, since their mother tongue was mainly spoken. It is argued that the language policy introduced by Vargas is not the only reason for Portuguese replacing German as umbrella language. Nevertheless, the Estado Novo was a decisive factor which prevented the establishment of a Brazilian variety of written standard German.