Reading fiction in childhood: 1880-1920

Abstract

This project proposes to investigate fictional childhood literature circulating in Brazil between the years 1880 to 1920. Originally produced for consumption outside the school, the books had to be analyzed an enormous diversity: illustrated albums, novels adapted classic tales of the oral tradition, poetry and even theatre plays to be made exclusively represented by children. Many of these works were published and printed in Europe, however this period several reputed national authors devoted themselves to writing for children and young people. This research aims to analyze the peculiarities of this production, with a view especially to understand what were the perceptions about childhood that these works had.In Belle Époque the concerns of much of the Brazilian intelligentsia with the formation of the nation and national identity widened and deepened. Tied to this we also see the emergence of an ideology which related that nationality in consolidation with the emergence of a readership. Thus children's literature fulfill the important role of facilitating the formation, through reading, of citizens who shared a single national identity. Understanding how childhood was seen in this historical moment also allows us to envision what would be the role of children and youth in nation building, in view of these intellectuals. (AU)