LANGUAGE GAMES AND LIFE FORMS: THE IMPORTANCE OF NUMBERS IN AN AFRO-BRAZILIAN CULTURE

Abstract

This study presents partial results of a Master’s research, developed at a University in the South of Brazil. It aims to analyze the family similarities and the Language Games present in the numbers used in an Afro-Brazilian cultural group. This analysis covers the forms of use, meanings and mystical representations of the numbers in question. The research problem is represented by the following question: What influence do the numbers have on Batuque in Rio Grande do Sul? The empirical material consisted of semi-structured interviews, conducted with four participants from this cultural group, individually. The main theoretical contribution to this study is the work Philosophical Investigations by Wittgenstein (1991). When analyzing the narratives of the participants, it was possible to show that the numbers used in this culture vary in different communities, maintaining family similarities, regarding their use. Numerical submultiples were agreed upon by the forerunners of religion as a way of perpetuating the cult, strengthening their culture as a way of resisting the subjection of this knowledge to the control society. Numbers have an essential and mystical character in the cult, representing the sacred, in all senses.