A constituição histórica da escrita no discurso de manuais didáticos de língua portuguesa do século XX.

Abstract

In this research we investigate the historical constitution of writing from the representations that were made throughout the twentieth century in textbooks. We turn our attention to the role of the didactic manual as a symbolic object and vehicle in the construction of knowledge through a pedagogical discourse that functions as a space for the observation of history. We analyze the discourse of three sets of writing manuals, produced in different socio-historical conjunctures of the twentieth century (1920s, 1930s and 1960s), in order to understand the effects and movements of meaning produced on who teaches, who learns writing, and on which model of teaching. We take as a general theoretical frame of reference the studies of French Line Discourse Analysis, guided by Pêcheux (1969 [1990]); 2010; 2014) Orlandi (1996b; 2002; 2005; 2012; 2014). We also used studies about textbook from (Bittencourt, 2008; Choppin, 2004; Batista, 1999; Richaudeau, 1979 and Souza, 1999) and on the history of educational legislation in the Portuguese language area in Brazil (Razzini, 2000), as well as studies on the constitution of pedagogical discourse (Giacomelli, 2007; Castro, 1995). The corpus of the research consisted of didactic works representative of three historical moments: José Oiticica's Manual de Estilo (1925 [1940]), and Arte da Composição e do Estylo, by Fr. Antônio da Cruz (1930), of the decade 1920; Aprende tu mesmo a redigir, by Estevão Cruz (1937), and Prática de Redação by Raul Gómez (1939), from the 1930s; And Manual de Expressão Oral e Escrita, by Joaquim Mattoso Câmara Júnior (1961 [1977]), and Comunicação em Prosa Moderna, by Othon Moacir Garcia (1969), of the 1960s. This corpus, of documentary nature, was analyzed from a discursive interpretative approach, through the selection of discursive cuts according to the research objectives. The analysis allowed us to perceive that the books of the first period (1920s) point to a representation of writing anchored in rhetorical-poetic affiliation. Those of the second period (1930s) point to a representation that oscillates between a writing anchored in rhetoric, and another one anchored in an empiricist perspective of knowledge based on the intuitive method. Those of the third period (1960s) present a writing also inserted in the rhetorical universe, but that seek a balance with a notion of writing more rational (pragmatic and technical), related to effective communication and as a means of expressing ideas. In general, the representations of writing in the discourse of the manuals analyzed show the link of Portuguese language teaching to rhetorical affiliation in the twentieth century, even with displacements from the gestures of each author.