The Embera Chami Community in the City of Bogota: A Literature Revision Following a Sociolinguistic Approach

Abstract

This article presents a literature review to provide inputs to build a theoretical framework and select a methodology to study the sociolinguistic reality of the Embera Chamí community displaced to the urban context of Bogotá, Colombia. In order to carry it out, a selection and synthesis of 68 printed and electronic documents published since 2000 in databases, digital libraries and websites of various organizations were used. The thematic and content analysis, based on categorization and coding, dealt with three thematic axes: the first axis offers a historical overview of the Embera Chamí community, both nationally and locally, the places of origin and the various causes and effects of the phenomenon of displacement. The second axis succinctly describes the Embera Chamí language phonetically, phonologically and grammatically. The last axis presents concepts such as superdiversity, communities of practice and contact networks of diverse nature, as well as some initiatives for the promotion of the Embera Chamí language and culture. The review suggests the need to establish a dialogue between the concepts arising from sociolinguistic theory, the particular context and the worldview of community members, through empirical ethnographic work that incorporates various data collection mechanisms.