MORAIS, Maria de Fátima Pereira de.
Abstract:
Children's literature is a valuable resource in children's education. In addition to helping
develop linguistic, cognitive, social and emotional aspects, it plays a major role in the process
of children's identity construction, in their understanding of themselves, others and the world.
The general objective of this research is to analyze the contributions of children's literature in
the process of constructing the ethnic-racial identity of black children in early childhood
education. The specific objectives are: a) to reflect on the importance of children's literature in
the process of constructing the ethnic-racial identity of black children in early childhood; b) to
discuss the relevance of reading children's works with black protagonists in childhood; c) to
point out the context of ethnic-racial literature in the school environment based on law
10.639/03; and d) to investigate the implications of the works “O cabelo de Lelê” (Belém, 2007)
and “Betina” (Gomes, 2009) in the process of constructing the identity and self-esteem of black
children. From a scientific point of view, this study is justified by the lack of discussion and
academic research on the theme of ethnic-racial relations in the Pedagogy Course of the
Academic Unit of Education of the Teacher Training Center of the Federal University of
Campina Grande, Cajazeiras/PB campus, as well as by the interest and need to reflect on the
relevance of children's literature in the construction of identity and self-esteem of black
children. In this work, we sought to investigate the following problematizing question: what are
the possible contributions of children's literature in the process of construction of ethnic-racial
identity and self-esteem of black children in early childhood education? The methodological
path chosen was documentary research, using an exploratory and qualitative approach. Two
works of children's literature were analyzed: “O cabelo de Lelê” (Belém, 2007) and “Betina”
(Gomes, 2009). The theoretical frameworks used were the concepts of Lajolo (2002),
Abravamovich (2007), Coelho (2011), among others, who contributed significantly to this
research. The results point to the importance of including literary works starring black
characters, as well as the characters of Lelê and Betina who, in addition to starring in the
stories, obtained recognition of their black identities represented by their hair, understanding
that they are part of a historical moment of ancestry, that is, the types of hair, their shapes,
textures, and their hair are part of an ancestral Afro-diasporic aesthetic, inherited from black
men and women who form the cultural plurality of our country. Therefore, just like the girls
represented in these works, we hope that other children can also recognize themselves in a
positive way in all their potential, and understand the history of black people through literary
works as contributors to the construction of black identities in early childhood education.
