AFRO-BRAZILIAN REPRESENTATION IN CHILDREN'S LITERATURE FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF IDENTITY (Atena Editora)

Abstract

Throughout history, we see that the feeling of childhood has not always existed, however, over time, children have come to be seen as subjects who need care, and thus schools emerge with a welfare function to meet these needs. Currently, the reality is different, as schools have an educational character and, in addition to care, aim at the full training of their students. In this process of human formation, children's literature is essential, because, in addition to contributing to the cognitive aspect, it promotes the construction of ethical, moral, identity, historical and cultural concepts in childhood. This way, this study aims to expose the importance of representing Afro-Brazilian culture in children's literature with a focus on portraying black protagonists in stories for the influence of black and white readers in the classroom. For the development of the study, we opted for bibliographical research, carried out in books and articles printed or available on Google Scholar. Thus, it was possible to understand the trajectory of childhood and the relevance of literature and reading for the growth of children and the importance of Afro-Brazilian representation. In addition, suggestions are presented to academic pedagogues in relation to literature through book approaches on the subject in order to encourage questions and transformations about their practices in the classroom as future educators. It is intended, therefore, to lead the educator to think consciously about the type of book he will recommend to students so that they feel represented and not harmed. However, it appears that representativeness only brings benefits both for black students who feel represented because they have an image to mirror, and for white students, who will better understand identity issues and obtain a diversified view of ethnic representations in society. literature.