Representações da abolição e do pós-abolição da escravidão nos livros didáticos de história do Ceará (2008-2016)

Abstract

This dissertation analyzes representations of the Abolition of Slavery and the Post-Abolition period in the state of Ceará, as presented in Regional History textbooks intended for 4th- and 5th-grade elementary school students, published between 2008 and 2016. The study seeks to understand how the historical event of Abolition—one of the most celebrated themes in collective memory and local historiography—is portrayed within didactic historiography. It is based on the hypothesis that, despite significant historiographical shifts and advances in educational legislation—such as Laws No. 10,639/2003 and 11,645/2008, which made the teaching of Afro-Brazilian history and culture mandatory in basic education—and the influence of the movement known as the “new history of Ceará” (Souza, 2015), textbooks continue to sustain a traditional, romanticized, and heroic narrative of the acclaimed “Cearense pioneering spirit.” As a result, they fail to offer a more in-depth analysis of the lived experiences of enslaved individuals and the complexities of the post-abolition period. The research corpus consists of five Ceará history textbooks published between 2008 and 2016, most of which were evaluated and approved by Brazil’s National Textbook Program (PNLD, 2008; 2013). Content analysis, as formulated by Laurence Bardin (2016), is employed to examine textual representations of events and historical actors that shape the didactic narratives, as well as the pedagogical activities proposed. The study is initially grounded in the reflections of Alain Choppin (2004) and Circe Bittencourt (2018a), who conceive textbooks as cultural objects that disseminate specific values; in Ana Zavala’s (2014) discussions on the transformation of historiographical texts into didactic content and the connections between academic and school historiography; and in Roger Chartier’s (2002a; 2002b) concept of “representation,” which serves as an analytical framework for examining how narratives surrounding abolition and post-abolition are constructed and endowed with meaning in the analyzed textbooks. The findings indicate that the didactic historiography under examination incorporates more critical reflections on the process of abolition, including productive dialogue with more recent legislation. However, it still lacks analytical depth, particularly with regard to the treatment of enslaved individuals and their descendants as historical subjects (Trouillot, 2016). Ultimately, this dissertation aims to contribute to the development of an antiracist historical education in Brazil by challenging monocultural and Eurocentric curricula and promoting empathy and tolerance through critical analysis of how the history of slavery and its abolition is represented in textbooks.