A representação da educação em Infância de Graciliano Ramos e Ponciá Vicêncio de Conceição Evaristo

Abstract

This thesis focuses on the study of the representation of education in Infância by Graciliano Ramos and Ponciá Vicêncio by Conceição Evaristo. Methodologically, it is grounded in the literary theory and criticism developed by Hungarian Marxist György Lukács. The study is based on the author’s argument that literary works are concrete manifestations of a broader reality and can, therefore, construct an image of the world. Initially, the thesis defines the concepts of education and formation, engaging with Marxist philosophy and historical-cultural psychology, understanding education as a social practice and the formation of the individual as the result of education and other social practices encountered by that individual. Based on these concepts, guiding categories were developed to be applied in the analysis of the novels. In Infância, the centrality of formal education was identified; however, the analysis focused on the expansion of the protagonist's mental representation of the world, highlighting the cognitive processes he undertakes to comprehend external social relations. In Ponciá Vicêncio, the institutionalized education is not the focus. Orality and tradition were identified as the main methods for transmitting values, beliefs, and techniques. The texts converge in several aspects, such as the use of fragmented memory as a narrative method, the construction of characters from childhood, and the representation of post-abolition contexts and the transition from the Monarchy to Republic as background. They differ, however, in their approach to this historical context, since the characters occupy opposing social positions: the boy in Infância is a descendant of former slaveholders, while Ponciá is a descendant of formerly enslaved people.