Anti-racist school library

manifestations of racism and ethnic-racial prejudice in cordel literature

Abstract

This research sought to contextualize cordel literature - a textual genre that emerged in Iberian culture and widely adopted in Brazilian culture, especially in the Northeast region - and to explore and problematize the manifestations of racism and ethnic-racial discrimination, and the portrayal of the black person, present in cordel. It also sought to emphasize the role of the school library in educational and pedagogical activities against racism and ethnic-racial prejudice, which unfortunately, are still quite frequent issues in Brazilian society and must be vehemently fought, especially through of education. An extracurricular activity carried out with students from the 5th year of elementary school in a private school, at the library, is also discussed: the critical reading and analysis of the cordel “Peleja do Cego Aderaldo with Zé Pretinho do Tucum”, by Firmino Teixeira do Amaral. Participating students presented critical and reflective positions in relation to the harsh manifestations of discrimination and prejudice envisioned. It fell to the school library the role of stimulating and organizing the reading process of string literature so that, through it, students could increase their knowledge, their critical and reflective capacity about such tough topics, so that they enable them to perform better roles in society and citizenship.