ALMEIDA, A. C. F.; http://lattes.cnpq.br/6665755655905370; TAVARES, Ana Cristina Falcão Almeida.
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.
