Histórias de assombração: possibilidades para o ensino de História

Abstract

The research aimed to investigate the possibilities of teaching History through haunting stories, highlighting the viability of working with such narratives in history classes. The experiences developed in two public state schools in Ceará: E.E.M. Rita Estelita dos Santos Rodrigues, in Amontada–CE, and E.E.F.M. Doutor Gentil Barreira, in Fortaleza–CE, sought to foster an understanding of haunting narratives in both local and global contexts. Elementary and high school students, when narrating haunting stories, reveal their conceptions of the past, present, and future. Through the use of short stories and oral accounts of hauntings, classroom discussions addressed issues such as urban transformations, expressions of religiosity, and collective traumas, relating them to the sensibilities and fears of the present time. To this end, the study engaged in dialogue with the ideas of scholars such as Jörn Rüsen (2011), Isabel Barca (2004), Alessandro Portelli (1997), Jean Delumeau (2009), and Tzvetan Todorov (1992). It also drew on haunting stories compiled by authors including Antero Pereira Filho (2016), Gilberto Freyre (2008), Ângela Leite Xavier (2021), and Walcyr Monteiro (2016), who recount narratives set in cities such as Aracati–CE, Recife–PE, Ouro Preto–MG, and Belém–PA. The study emphasizes the importance of oral history and social representations within the school environment, highlighting successful project experiences that connect haunting narratives with the teaching of History. Haunting stories were understood as documents, historical sources, and pedagogical resources, as well as products of both oral and literary traditions that engage with multiple temporalities. By working with these narratives, the research sought to articulate the teaching and learning of History with a process of sensitization through the marvelous and fear, fostering a critical understanding of the world and of the places we occupy within it. The results obtained throughout the research process were analyzed based on experiences in workshop-classes conducted between 2021 and 2025, culminating in the educational product Haunted Workshop-Classes: A Teaching Workbook, which brings together proposals for workshop-based lessons in multiple formats centered on themes related to haunting stories.