Representações da morte em contos de Mia Couto: vivências estéticas em sala de aula.

Abstract

Death is a natural phenomenon that is part of the four stages of the biological life cycle (birth; growth; reproduction; death). It is an event that the human being is usually not prepared to experience. Still seen as a taboo by the population, many people choose to remain silent about death and even deny it. Therefore, believing that working with the representations of death space may help the student in the construction of a more critical and reflective individual upon the theme, we propose this study. The general objective of the research is to reflect upon the symbolic representations of death in the classroom, based on the analysis and reception of the tales “O Rio das Quatro luzes”, “O fazedor de Luzes”, and the “Cego Estrelinho”, by the Mozambican writer Mia Couto, of the 3rd year high school students from a public school located in the city of Remígio-PB. The instruments for collecting research data were 02 questionnaires (one applied to the teacher and the other to the students), a field diary to the researcher and a smartphone to record audios and videos during classes. The theoretical assumptions guiding this research are based on three aspects: the first linked to the theme of death and its representations over the years; the second focuses on understanding this theme in Mozambican literature; and the third related to the reading methodology focused on the literary reader formation process, with application (in part) of the reception method. For the theoretical support, among many, we have the contributions of Morin (1988), Ariès (2012), Goldberg (1992), Kovács (1992), Kübler-Ross (1996), and Munanga (2007) to reflect upon the theme of death; Cavacas (2015), Martinez (2008), Munanga (2007b) and Covane (2014) about Mozambican literature and postcolonial theory; Hans Robert Jauss (1979), Lígia Cademartori (2009), Teresa Colomer (2007), Michéle Petit (2008), Regina Zilberman (1988), and Bordini and Aguiar (1988) for our considerations about teaching literature. The result of the intervention experience carried out deserves two highlights: 1. An intervention work that starts from the interaction between literary text and student reader is only possible when favorable conditions are offered for a reading that prioritizes the student to experience the aesthetic effects caused by the text through motivating activities; 2. The opportunity of testing a didactic sequence that required a theme of universal conception (death), but that became particular because it had a specific contexto of study, aspects of Mozambican culture, enabled students to broaden their understanding of interculturality.