Revista Brasileira de História da Educação (Sep 2013)
Representations of the Black in school reading books in primary schools of Pernambuco (1843-1897)
Abstract
The present study aims to investigate images and representations of the Black conveyed in reading textbooks circulating in the primary schools of Pernambuco state in the Nineteenth Century. The research was guided by assumptions of the New Cultural History, History of the Book, and Reading History. We used as main sources of research reading textbooks used in primary schools of the period studied. We used as additional sources opinions on textbooks, reports of public education, and educational legislation. We found that the books showed the Black as inferior and uncivilized, and even when they were regarded as heroes such as Zumbi and Henrique Dias, the color of their skin interfered with their heroism.
