PNLD literário 2020 e 2021: um olhar investigativo sobre a oferta e produção literária de autoria indígena

Abstract

This study aimed to map the presence of Brazilian works of Indigenous authorship in the collections of the National Textbook and Teaching Materials Program—PNLD Literário 2020 (final years of Basic Education) and PNLD Literário 2021 (Secondary Education)—and to analyze the characteristics of contemporary Indigenous literature in those works. To this end, a survey was conducted of the titles and native authors selected by PNLD Literário (2020 and 2021) and provided by the Ministry of Education to Brazil’s public basic-education schools. The rationale rests on two official documents: (i) the 1988 Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil (Brasil, 1988), which guarantees Indigenous peoples the right to differentiated education that respects their own learning processes; and (ii) Law No. 11.645 of 2008 (Brasil, 2008), which mandates that Indigenous themes be addressed in basic education, especially in the field of literature. Given these legal requirements and the PNLD’s role in supplying educational materials that guide state reading policies, the Program constitutes the venue through which compliance with laws concerning Indigenous content in education must be fulfilled. PNLD Literário thus becomes a portrait of the reading offered to public-school students, since the selected titles accompany them throughout their schooling. Based on the bibliographic survey, text analysis, and quantitative and qualitative evaluation of Indigenous authored titles recommended by PNLD Literário, this study assessed the extent to which Law 11.645/2008 and the 1988 Federal Constitution are being implemented with respect to Indigenous themes. The Digital Guides for both PNLD Literário editions (Brasil, 2020b; 2021b)—which list the titles, synopses, and authorship of the works selected at each stage—were consulted. From these, the books addressing Indigenous themes and their respective authors were identified, and the necessary data were collected for analysis. It was confirmed that one Indigenous-authored work appears among the 342 titles selected for PNLD Literário 2020 (final years of Basic Education) and that four Indigenous-authored works appear among the 526 titles chosen for PNLD Literário 2021 (Secondary Education). This indicates that compliance with the relevant mandates has been superficial, given the small number of Indigenous-authored titles included. Finally, the study found that Indigenous literature broadens the very concept of literature, serving as an enriching resource in the formation of the multicultural reader and functioning as a means of cultural resistance for Indigenous communities.