Literature and school: other centralities in the development of literary readers

Abstract

It is not possible to measure the value of literature for the human being, it humanizes us, it liberates us, it is, so to speak, an invitation to autonomy. Literature improves people and makes them dream of a better world. It is possible to access literature in different environments, but school is often the place where the first encounter with the literary text takes place. However, literary education has been facing obstacles for its development at the elementary and secondary levels as some experiences are configured as tedious and are distant from the student's life context. Such literary education only contemplates works from the literary canon. In this perspective, this article brings considerations about the reasons for reading literary texts, emphasizing the importance of bringing literary works produced in “other centralities” into the schools, as a dialogical possibility of unparalleled wealth for young contemporary readers. This is a bibliographic study based on Alves (2013), Candido (1995), Cosson (2018), Coutinho (2014), Dalcastagnè (2012), Dalvi (2013), Jouve (2012), Nascimento (2006), Oliveira (2011), Porto (2012), Rouxel (2013), Vaz (2011), among other authors who have contributed to the discussion. As a result, the formative potential of literature is ratified, emphasizing that elementary and secondary education must privilege multiple literary approaches, in order to contemplate readings and works produced in the various centers that produce knowledge.