Identidade étnico-racial na literatura infanto-juvenil: uma proposta de leitura para o 7º ano do ensino fundamental, anos finais

Abstract

The ethnic-racial representation in literature and media, historically marked by stereotypes and prejudices, reflects a reality rooted in Brazilian society, including the educational environment. This research aims to develop reading competencies from children’s literature with black themes, observing the impact of literary literacy on the valorization of black identity and the development of the critical capacity of 7th-grade students in the final years of elementary school, in the city of Queimadas, PB. The study observes how this literature can contribute to the valorization of black identity and the development of critical thinking in students. The children’s narrative The Little Black Prince by Rodrigo França was the object of study. The choice of this work was due to its positive approach to the identity of black children, as well as the valorization of central aspects of African and Afro-Brazilian culture. In this sense, from literary reading, activities were promoted capable of expanding the socio-cultural repertoire of students, promoting critical reflections on ethnic-racial issues. The work provided a space for identification and valorization for black children, presenting a protagonist with whom they could identify and whose experiences reflected their own lives. Moreover, the narrative also served as a starting point for discussions about the importance of representativeness in children’s literature and the positive impact that this representation can have on building the self-esteem and identity of black children. The activities developed included debates in the classroom, critical analysis of the narrative elements related to Afro-Brazilian culture, production of reflective and creative texts, as well as the realization of audiovisual projects, such as booktube, which aimed to disseminate reflections and learning beyond the school environment. For this, we methodologically based ourselves on Rildo Cosson’s Basic Sequence (2021), composed of four stages: motivation, introduction, reading, and interpretation. Among the theoretical reference of support, the assumptions of Hall (2006), Munanga (2004; 2009; 2012), Cuti (2021), Pinheiro (2023), Bernd (1998), Asante (2009), Rabaka (2009), Rosa (2021), Cosson (2021), Candido (2012), Todorov (2012), Almeida (2019), Moisés (2006), BNCC (2018), among others, stand out. From the sequence of activities, we were able to ascertain, throughout the research, that the work The Little Black Prince raised discussions that were not frequent among the students, many of whom faced situations of prejudice, but had never had the opportunity to reflect, debate, and express their feelings about this theme. In this context, there was a notable increase in the students’ awareness of ethnic-racial issues, providing them with the enrichment of their repertoires and contributing to the promotion of an education based on the fight against racism. Such identification encouraged the students/readers to reexamine their social roles, fostering the construction of a positive ethnic-racial identity.