Going South and zooming into what also matters in language, gender and sexuality

Abstract

This essay contributes to the ‘Thirty-year retrospective on language, gender and sexuality research’ on the theme of ‘Place’ by joining other colleagues under two threads: ‘going South’ and ‘going micro’. Under ‘going South’, I speak from my trajectory and place as a Brazilian scholar to highlight the geopolitical importance of the International Gender and Language Association (IGALA) and the journal Gender and Language, not just for the intellectual and scientific development of studies on language, gender and sexuality but also for research produced in nonhegemonic centres. In defending that we ‘go micro’ – i.e. that we zoom in our methodological lenses to social interactions in everyday life – I argue for the relevance of interactional studies to the investigation of language, gender and sexuality in action. I illustrate how microanalytical methodological lenses have guided my research, some of the findings they have helped me disclose and some of the applications they have helped me foster.