The Study of Literary Fiction in Brazilian Technical Schooling: A Possible Way For Consciousness

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Articles&EssaysBookReviews
Articles&EssaysBookReviews CreativeWriting
Consciousness,LiteratureandtheArts
Volume15Number3,December2014
___________________________________________________________________
TheStudyofLiteraryFictioninBrazilianTechnicalSchooling:a
possiblewayforconsciousness
by
HudsonMarquesdaSilva
Abstract:
FormanyyearsBraziliantechnicalprofessionalschoolshavebeen
based on imparting a utilitarianpragmatic knowledge from which
the technician has only been prepared for mere reproduction of
practices predetermined by the current model, which Martins
(2000) featured as an unconscious making. In other words, the
technical schooling has not been based on either reflection (for
socialhistoricalchange)orcreativity(forredesigningandcreating
new methods). In this context, more reflective subjects such as
philosophy, sociology, and literature have been undervalued for
being considered to be unnecessary for this professional
background. Therefore, this paper discusses the importance of
teaching/studying literary fiction as a means of developing a real
consciousnessinprofessionalschooling, as well as its relationship
with the results of a field research study applied at the Instituto
Federal de Pernambuco, in which teachers and students disclosed
their concepts about the role of literary fiction as a curricular
componentofprofessionalschooling.
Keywords:literaryfiction,professionalschooling,curricular
component.
1.Introduction
Literaturepresentsaparticularityof
opening,whenpromotingtheinsertion
withotherartformsorknowledge,
openingforotherhumanexperience
forms.(PEREIRA;SILVA,2010,p.02,our
translation)
Thispaperaimstoapproachtwohistoricallydichotomicareas:onthe
one hand, the objectivity of Brazilian technical professional schooling
and,ontheotherhand,thesubjectivityofthestudyofliteraryfiction.
While the technical courses, since their origins, have been focusing
mainly on staff training to provide a competitive edge in the labor
market, literary study was reserved for (or accessed only by) smaller
groups, the scholars from prestigious social classes, who perceived
literaturetobeanobjectoferudition.
Massive changes have taken place in the technical professional realm
withglobalizationandthetechnologicalrevolutionthatexplodedinthe
second half of twentieth century. In the meantime, assumptions by
https://blackboard.lincoln.ac.uk/bbcswebdav/users/dmeyerdinkgrafe/current/hudson.html
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thoseengagedinliterarystudieshavecreatedthedichotomywiththe
rapidly globalizing technical world. Thus their interdisciplinarity
becomesdifficult.
Thus, in the first section, we discuss some ideologies embedded in
Brazils technical professional schooling system, its changes, and
possible roles that literature, with its newly developing concepts, can
perform in such schooling. In the second section, we analyze the
answers of the teachers and students from Instituto Federal de
Educao, Cincia e Tecnologia de Pernambuco (IFPE) Belo Jardim
campusconcerningthefunctionofliteratureintechnicalschooling.
2.TechnicalProfessionalSchoolingandLiteraryFiction
Since the foundation of the socalled Students and Craftspeople
House, in the nineteenth century, Brazilian professional courses have
been dedicated to the improvement of the less prestigious social
classes handwork. While the elite attended universities, where the
requiredintellectualbackgroundfordecisionmakingpostswastaught,
proletarian groups found learning through technical courses that
provide a door to the labor market. And such improvements as have
occurred in Brazilian education have, ever since, been conducted as a
kind of dressage in behavioral patterns. Accordingly, the professional
reproduces, by imitation, preestablished practices, without the
reflectionthatcangenerateimportantchangesinhis/herprofessionor
insociety(Martins,2000).IntheclassicmovieModernTimes(1936),
createdbytheBritishcineasteCharlesChaplin,lampoonedthiskindof
behavior in manufacturing environments. However, the technical
professional schooling, principally after the end of the Cold War in
1989, could not be discontinued as development of the country
proceeded; since both industrialization and the capitalist mode of
productionhadmultipliedmoreandmoreandconsolidatedthemselves
worldwide.
In this context, when analyzing the ideologies that surround
contemporaryBraziliantechnicalteaching,itisimportanttoconsider
thecontextsfromwhichtheyemergedandthatinfluencedthem.These
considerations include the need for training people from less
prestigious classes for the world of work; the intensification of the
AmericantechnicistpedagogyadoptedinBrazilinthesecondhalfof
twentieth century; the influences of repression lived during Brazilian
militarydictatorship,andthecapitalistview,moreclearlyfeaturedby
the Decree 2.208/97, which, according to Martins (2000, p. 105, our
translation), meant ... in the national perspective, accepting the
submission of the subaltern class to the ruling class, and, in the
internationalperspective,thenationalsubmissiontothedictatesofthe
international capital. Among the criticisms of the decree, is its
promotionofseparatinggeneralschoolingfromtechnicalschooling.
Thus, with this decree, the Federal Institutions of Technical Teaching
were only responsible for technical background, being unbound from
generalschooling offered in high school, which is different from what
happeneduntilthenintheconcomitantmodel.
However,thedesiredintegrationbetweengeneralschoolingand
professional schooling was reiterated by the Decree 5154/2004,
which made possible a pedagogy directed at fostering a broader
professional background while holding off from the behaviorist
tradition and/or from capitalist utilitarianism. The decree aimed to
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break the dualism between intellectual work and handwork. And it

wasafruitfulinitiativefrombothpedagogicalandhumanperspectives;
asSavianepointsoutinhisHistoricalCriticalPedagogy,different
fromotheranimals, which adapt to the natural reality, and have their
existence naturally guaranteed, human beings need to continually
producetheirownexistence.(Saviani,1997,p.15,ourtranslation).
Intheperspectiveofconstructingourownexistence,besidesthe
need of an educating for thinking, so that there are social changes,
capitalism itself, after globalization and technological revolution, has
requiredmoreandmorecreativeprofessionalsabletoinnovateboldly.
It is important to clarify that the purpose of this paper is not just to
criticizeglobalizationorcapitalism,buttoaffirmtheeffectiveschooling
of a professional who, inserted in this context, is more reflective,
creative,innovator,abletochangehis/herpractices,ratherthanbeing
ameresubalternandpassiverepeater.
Considering this dialectic (utilitarian, static, unreflective praxis
versus creative, modificative, reflective praxis), it is plausible to think
abouttheroleofliteraryfictionintheschoolingoftheprofessionalin
integrated technical courses offered by Education Federal Institutions
in Brazil, in this case, at our campus (Belo Jardim). Approaching the
need of a more creative and reflective professional schooling, it is
suggestedtheliteraryfictionasanimportantareaofstudyforthistask.
The problem this paper seeks to address lies in the traditions of
Brazilian technical pedagogy, which has focused on training
professionals for a kind of automated or an unreflective praxis by
meansofautilitarianconceptionoftheschooling.Withrespecttothe
unreflectivepraxis,Martins(2000,p.21,ourtranslation)observesthat
such professionals ... are just dedicated to the mere technique, the
mere unconscious making. This kind of thinking should have been
overcomealongtimeago,sincetheidealprofessionalmustbeable,in
the modern context, to modify, innovate his/her practice, besides
changingsocietyandconstructinghis/herownhistory.
However,professionalschoolingseemsnottohavegivenstudents
dueexposuretosubjectsthatarebothmorereflective,likephilosophy
and sociology, and more creative or imaginative, like art, music and
literature.Hence,suchprofessionalschoolinglacksasolidbackground
for fostering thoughtful knowledge, a cultural schooling that would
make the technicians able to decide their historical fate and work, a
schoolingfocusingoncitizenshipthatequalizestherulersandtheruled
ones(Martins,2000,p.3334).
Moreover, it is important to question the utilitarian concept that
professional teaching has reproduced. As Kosik (apud Carvalho, 2006,
p. 21, our translation) emphasizes, the immediate utilitarian praxis
and the common sense related to it making human beings able to be
orientedintheworld,tobefamiliarizedwiththingsandhowtohandle
them, do not provide the comprehension of things and reality. And
such comprehension of the world is among the main components of
forming productive citizens. It should be remembered that, before
being a professional, the subject needs to become a citizen; this
formative process must also pervade the technical teaching
institutions,sinceasMartins(2000,p.41,ourtranslation)pointsout,
This view of a human being as a subject who constructs
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him/herself and the world around them, however, is

obscured by the capitalist mode of production. In this
mode, human labor is defaced by alienation, which
fetishizes the product, and reifies the producer ... Thus,
humankind loses the possibility of understanding the
wholeprocessoftheconstitutionofhistoryandtheability
toactonit.
Nevertheless, as pointed out, the Decree 5154/2004, which
allowedtheintegrationofgeneralschoolingandprofessionalschooling
at Federal Institutions of Technical Teaching, offer the possibility of
overcoming this strictly utilitarian view. The study of more reflective
subjects,besidespromotingcitizenformation,hasagreatusefulnessin
professionalschooling.Thisisbecausetheabilitytoproposereflections
and creativity may contribute to improvements and innovations.
Specifically, the study of literature may be revealed as an important
subjectintheschoolingoftheprofessionalcitizen.
Itshouldbeemphasizedthatthedifficultytorecognizeliterature
asanimportantcomponentincitizenformationispresentnotonly at
technical schools, but within the entire Brazilian basic educational
system. It is a fact that no special attention is paid to the study of
literatureanditsspecificities,neitherincurrentlyproscribedtextbooks
nor in the NCP (National Curricular Parameters). Gomes (2009, p. 01,
ourtranslation)notesthat
With the advent of postindustrial societies, from the
second half of 20th century, when the uses of written
words were diversified and redefined because of the
implantation of new technologies and when audiovisual
mediaassumedtheroleasprivilegedmediatorsofcultural
property, the importance of reading and literary
production as social practices has undeniably been
decreased.
Thustheauthorsuggestsapossiblecrisisofliteraryreading and
production. This crisis originated in the new technologies and their
visual culture, and now pervades the educational environment. From
thisperspective,GomesemphasizesthefactthatInthemiddleschool,
literaturedoesnotexistassubjectcontent,althoughcurricularguides
and textbooks mention it unsystematically (Gomes, 2009, p. 03, our
translation). There is a fusion of the study of literature and other
textualgenreswithoutanappropriatedifferentiationbetweenbothin
the Portuguese language NCP now taught in the third and fourth
educationalcycles.
Forhighschool,theauthorreportsthat
... the role of literature is still less emphasized, although
thereistherecommendationthat"highschoolshouldgive
aspecialattentiontoformingreaders,includingclassicsof
Brazilianliterature"(2002:68).Inthetext,literarystudies
are diluted in language studies, and literary genres are
consideredtobejust a discursive practice like any other.
(Gomes,2009,p.03,ourtranslation)
With these observations it is obvious that in Brazilian basic
education, from elementary to high school, there is no articulated
didacticalcurricularidentificationofthestudyofliteratureasaspecific
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subject.Anotherproblemisthatteachingliteratureinschoolhasfora
long time focused on a merely biographicalhistorical approach, in
whichauthorsbirthdeathdatesandplaces,publishingdates,andtitles
ofthebookswerememorized,amongotherlearningactivitiesthatdo
not feature the appropriate study of literature, as Pereira and Silva
(2010,p.02,ourtranslation)assert:
... the practices of teaching literature were for a long time
limited to the historicist and/or biographical view, being
concentratedonthestudyofliteraryschoolswithoutareal
contact with the literary work, at the most, students read
snippetspresentedinthetextbooks.
However, the importance of studying literary texts during
educationalprocessisreinforcedbyAzevedo(apudGomes,2009,p.04,
ourtranslation),whenhestatesthatitisnotpossibletotalkseriously
about education without accessing, comprehending and familiarizing
students with poetic and subjective texts. This concept is also
corroboratedbyEdgarMorin,whenhepointsoutthat
It is in the novel, in the movie, in the poem that existence
revealsitsmiseryanditstragicmagnificence,withtherisk
of failure, mistake, and madness. It is with our heroes
deaththatwehaveourfirstexperiencesaboutdeath.Itis,
therefore, with literature that teaching about human
conditioncanbecomevividandactive,inordertoelucidate
eachpersonabouthis/herownlife.(Morin,2005,p.49,our
translation)
Yet,accordingtothislineofthinking,MaurcioSilva(2010)wrote
alongsentencethatshouldbementionedhere:
Dealing with literature is, therefore, a way to better and
more deeply comprehend a kind of tool able to de
automatizeourperceptionoftheeveryday,actingcontrary
to the standardization of our apprehension of reality; to
develop our sensibility and intelligence, enabling them
fully for a broader reading of the world; to arouse our
capacity of indignation, creating in each of us a critical
consciousness of the surrounding reality; to base our
ethical behavior in social life, in order to improve our
human interrelations; and to develop our ability of
comprehendingandabsorbingtheaestheticactivity,from
a solid hermeneutical practice. (Silva, 2010, p. 02, our
translation)
Thus,ontheonehand,iftechnicalschoolinginBrazilhasfocused
mostly on an unconscious making with merely utilitarian purposes
withoutgivingduevaluetoreflectionandcreativity,and,ontheother
hand,giventhelackofspecialattentiontothestudyofliterarytextsin
Brazilian basic education; what is the case of the teaching/study of
literatureinintegratedtechnicalcourseslike?
In integrated technical courses, the subjects from high school,
which compose the general schooling, mainly philosophy, sociology,
music, art and literature, tend to be undervalued, being considered to
be just a support to technical subjects, because the latter are
considered to represent the real or main purpose of the technical
course (this view was identified in our field research, which will be
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presented in the next section). This devaluation of the study of

literature leads to the question: what is the usefulness of this subject
forprofessionalschooling?Itshouldbenotedthatusefulnessdoesnot
alwaysmeananimmediateortangibleresult.Byanalogy,whatwould
betheusefulnessofphilosophy,asubjectthatexploresonlyreflection?
Yet it is known that such reflection finds usefulness that is mostly
revealed as more important than practice itself, since the latter is
constructed or modified from the former. Thereby, the usefulness of
thestudyofliterarytextsmaynotbeshowntobeapplicablequicklyor
even utilitarian in the sense of producing immediate results, but such
study can offer, besides aesthetic pleasure, an ability to question and
teachcreativityindispensabletothecitizenconstitution.
Asregardsthecreativityprovidedbythestudyofliterature,Silva
(2010,p.03,ourtranslation)notesthat
It is, however, necessary to always keep in mind that
readers also participate actively in the process of
literary creation, since reading is a particular way of
creative reorganization of the writers ideas: it is through
readers, in a process of recreation of the work, that the
literary text obtains its aesthetic value, conducted by the
consciouscriticism.
Thus readers become coauthors in the process of constructing
meanings suggested by the literary work, leaving the passive attitude
behind.Andinconstructingmeanings,theypracticetheirreflectionand
stimulatetheircreativepotential.Stillontheusefulnessofliterature,it
isimportanttounderstanditas
an aesthetic object that could make us better people
that is linked to a certain idea of the subject, to what
theorists have come to call the liberal subject; the
individual defined not by a social situation and interests
butbyanindividualsubjectivity(rationalityandmorality)
conceivedasessentiallyfreeofsocialdeterminants.(Culler,
2000,p.37)
Ashasbeenshown,Cullerpositsliteratureasanaesthetic object.
Indeed,literarytextsmaypresentanaestheticfeaturethatdiffersfrom
othertexts.Itisamongthenuancesthatliteraturebecomesart.Hence,
among the tasks of studying literature, the comprehension of such
aestheticspecificitiesmustbeincluded.However,literatureisnotonly
anaestheticobject.Itpresentscontents,andprovidesreflection,and
engages the mind in ethical issues, inducing readers to examine
conduct (including their own) as an outsider or a reader of novels
would. (Culler, 2000, p. 37). In other words, literature brings the
problemsofhumanlifetotheforeandcanpromoteselfawareness.
Literary content enriches life understanding. Daniel Taylor
(1995), in his emphatic approach to the functions that literature can
playinpeopleslives,states:Storiesteachushowtolive.Weareborn
and raised in stories, and stories answer all the big questions in life:
whoamI?whyamIhere?WhatshouldIdo?(Taylor,1995,p.58).The
power of literature to provide such answers resides in the close
relationshipbetweenfictionandreality,thatis,...thereisnoessential
differencebetweenthestoriesofliteratureandthestoriesofourlives.
(Taylor,1995,p.66).
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Being, therefore, so close to reality, literary fiction brings up

ethical debates that promote reflection and questioning of moral
systems.Literaturetransportsreaderstoitsfictionalreality,andmakes
themrealize,amongotherthings,socialinjustices.Taylor(1995,p.58)
emphasizesthatLiteratureisinescapablytiedtoethicsandisusefulin
personalethicaldevelopment,thought,andaction.
Onthatbasis,itisnoticedthat,incertainpatternsofsocietythere
aretherulersandtheruled;thosewhohavepowerdonotlikepopular
riots or popular reactions to their rulings. Thus, in such contexts, a
subjectlikeliteraturemaynotprobablybewelcome,sinceliterature
is the vehicle of ideology and that literature is an instrument for its
undoing. (Culler, 2000, p. 38). That is why, during the Brazilian
military dictatorship, for example, there were so many cases of
censorshipagainstartistswhoselyrics,plays,poemsornarrativesthat
providedcluesforreflectingonorcriticizingwhatthegovernmentwas
reallydoing.Suchartists,aswellasmanyothercitizens,weretortured,
exiled or murdered. Such repression against artistic manifestations,
especiallyliterature,canbebasedonwhatCuller(2000,p.39)points
out:literaturehashistoricallybeenseenasdangerous:itpromotes
thequestioningofauthorityandsocialarrangements.Asregardssuch
criticismthatliteraturecangenerate,whichapriorimightberegarded
asharmless,itisimportanttorememberthat
Historically, works of literature are credited with
producing change: Harriet Beecher Stowes Uncle Toms
Cabin, a bestseller in its day, helped create a revulsion
againstslaverythatmadepossibletheAmericanCivilWar
(Culler,2000,p.39).
Accordingly, literature is much more than an aesthetic, fine and
artisticphenomenon.Inotherwords,itisnotonlyform;itconsistsof
content, whose nature is rooted in the dilemmas of life. Thus, these
twodimensionsofliteratureshouldbeconsideredintheprocesses of
teaching.Jouve(2012,p.135,ourtranslation)reinforcesthat
... literary fictions are not only aesthetic realities. They are
alsoobjectsoflanguagethatforexpressingculture,thought
andarelationshipwiththeworlddeservetoconcernusall.
Thus, as well as music, dance, painting, sculpture, among other
arts, literature promotes admiration, leisure, happiness, sadness and
manyotherfeelingsthatmakeushuman.Butnotonlythat!Literature
alsoincitesreflection.Itquestionsmoralpatternsandthemostvaried
nuancesofsocialandindividuallife.AsFischer(apudSena,2006,our
translation) states, Art is necessary so that humankind becomes able
tounderstandandchangetheworld.Butartisalsonecessarybecause
of its inherent magic. These two features (form and content) of the
usefulness of literature are summarized by Sena (2006, our
translation):
Form:theplayfulfunctionwhichcomesupwhenliteratureisseenasa
microcosm,as a value in itself, as a kind of game, as a specific reality,
without useful purpose, and designed to only give pleasure, to
stimulateemotions,todistract,torejoice,tomove,etc.;
Content: the cognitive function of literature, seen as a way of
knowledge, an element that reveals the psychological truth of human
beingsorthehiddentruthunderthesurfaceofhumanrelationships.
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3. The view of teachers and students from IFPE Belo Jardim

campusaboutthestudyofliteratureintechnicalschooling
This section contextualizes the studied locus, and discusses the
teachers and students views about the role of literature in technical
schooling.
IFPE Belo Jardim campus, Pernambuco, Brazil, held its first
classes on May 5th, 1970, when it was still named the Agricultural
School of Belo Jardim, and became the Federal Agricultural School of
BeloJardimin1979,andthecampusofInstitutoFederaldeEducao
de Pernambuco in 2010, today offers Integrated Technical Courses
(technical courses integrated with high school, which include degrees
in technician in agriculture, technician in agroindustry and technician
ininformatics),SubsequentTechnicalCourses(technicalcoursesfor
highschoolgraduates,whicharetechnicianinagriculture,technicianin
agroindustry, technician in informatics and technician in nursing),
PROEJA (young and adults education integrated with the technical
course in agroindustry), and a Higher Course (graduation in
interpretativepracticesofpopularmusic).
Thus, the teachers at this institution, called Teachers of Basic,
TechnicalandTechnologicalEducation,workinthevariouslevelsand
modalitiesofteaching.Inthisresearch,therespondentswereteachers
of technical subjects (agriculture, agroindustry and informatics),
teachersofgeneralsubjects(highschool)andstudentsfromintegrated
technicalcourses,whereliteratureisacompulsorycurricularsubject.
The data collection was conducted in the first semester of 2013,
withtheparticipationof23teachers,13oftechnicalsubjectsand12of
general schooling, and 23 students, 7 from informatics, 10 from
agricultureand6fromagroindustry.TheteachersareidentifiedasT1,
T 2 etc., and the students as S 1, S 2 and so on. In a structured
questionnaire,itwasaskedtoalltherespondents:Inyouropinion,is
thestudyofliteraryfictionimportantforprofessionaltechnician
schooling?Yes,No,Intermediate.Why?Yetitwasaskedonlytothe
teachersoftechnicalsubjects:In your opinion, what is the function
ofsubjectsfromhighschoolintheintegratedtechnicalcourse?
From 23 teachers, only 2 (8,69%) answered as intermediate in
responsetothequestionabouttheimportanceofthestudyofliterature
forprofessionaltechnicalschooling.Theother21(91,3%)pointeditas
important. As regards the students, 9 (39,1%) answered as
intermediate, and 14 (60,8%) as important. None of the respondents
said it was unimportant. It is noticed, therefore, a tendency of the
respondents to regard the study literature in technical schooling as
beingimportant.
3.1TheStudyofLiteraturehasIntermediateImportance
It is observed that the teachers who posited as intermediate the
importance of the study of literature in technical schooling (8,69%)
workwithtechnicalsubjects.Thejustificationfortheiranswersisthat
the study of literature ... may help, if taught by a teacherwhoknows
theapproachedtheme.(T1)andtohaveimpact, itis necessarythat
literaturehasanimplicitcontentliketheeducationalcomics.(T2).In
otherwords,forsuchteachers,therelativityresidesinhowtheliterary
studyisconducted,notinitsstudy.Moreover,T2emphasizesthat,for
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being important, the literary text should bring up a specific content,

whichpresentseducationalpurposes.Amongthestudents,thisnumber
increases. 39,1% posited an intermediate importance in the study of
literature for technical schooling. Among the justifications, it is
emphasized: 1) because it is not realstories(S1,2,3and 4) and 2)
becauseithelpstoimprovereading,butitdoesnotinfluencestraight
in the course (S 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9). As noticed, the students do not see
usefulness in literature except in terms of improving reading, which
they perceive as its only usefulness for technical schooling. The
students see such fragility in the importance of studying literature
becauseofitsfictionalornonrealfeature.However,asdiscussedin
the previous section, the interplay between fiction and reality in
literary texts is much more subtle than it seems to be, since neither
thereiscompletelyrealnarrativenorcompletelyfictionalnarrative,as
Lejeune (1991) asserts. Literature can unfold both plots that describe
realstoriesandplotsthatcouldbereal,whichare,therefore,relevant
tostudy.
3.2TheStudyofLiteratureisImportant
Although 91,3% of the teachers and 60,8% of the students have
pointedasimportantthestudyofliteratureintechnicalschooling,itis
importanttonoticethatsomejustifications7(30,4%)teachersand4
(17,3%) students are based on the improvement of reading and
writingasthefunctionofliterature:
T3:articulationofspeechandwriting
T4:ithelpsinwriting
T5:Professionalswhousetoreadtendtobemoredisciplined
T6:justforitsreading,italreadyarousesthewillofdeepeninginmany
themes
T 7: through reading this kind of literature it is possible to have a
discoveryaboutagiventopic(stimulus)bythereader
T 8: reading is important in any level of teaching, because who reads
alsowritesbetterandinterpretsbetter.
T9:ithelpsindevelopingskillsrelatedtocommunicationandwriting.
S10:becausewhatmattersisnotthestyleofreading,butthehabitto
read
S11:itisawayofshowingknowledgebothonwritingandonspeechin
itself
S12:Ienlargemyvocabulary
S13:dependingoneachreading,weacquiremoreknowledgeaboutthe
words
Amuchsmallernumberofrespondents4(17,3%)teachersand
2(8,69%)studentsconnectedthestudyofliteraturetoamorecritical
andcreativehumandevelopment:
T10:itstimulatesourstudentsimaginationandcreativity,contributing
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somehowtoeducatinganinnovativeandcreativeyouth.
T11:itmakespeoplebemorecritical.
T12:itencouragesthinkingofagoalthat,evenifitisutopic,canbring
advancesinstudentscreativity.
S14:ithelpsinstudentscreativity.
S15:itimprovesimagination,leadingusunderstandtheworld.
Finally,fromalltherespondents,only3(13%)teacherspresented
moreconsistentjustificationstotheproposalofthispaper,whenthey
saythat:
T 13: The study of literary texts is important so that students have the
opportunity to live aesthetic experiences beyond technical schooling,
because literature provides readers a sharpening of their critical sense
andsophisticationofsensibility,besidestheenlargementoftheirviewof
theworld.Suchcharacteristicsareimportantsothattheindividualacts
in a more participatory way in society, as well as being able to read
realitymorecoherently.Thus,theliterarytextcontributesnotonlytothe
technicalschooling,buttothehumanbeing.
T14:manyfictionslike,forexample,VidasSecas,byGracilianoRamos
and Morte e Vida Severina, by Joo Cabral de Melo Neto, approach
peopleslifeinthecountryside.
T 15: Literary fiction as a way of recreating reality has utmost
importance, both in technical schooling and in other areas. The
technician before anything is a human being, therefore, needy for
subjectivity.
T 13 emphasizes the sharpening of their critical sense and the
enlargement of their view of the world as possible purposes of the
studyofliterature.Thisviewcorroboratestheproposalpresentedhere,
wherebyreaderscriticalsensecanbeimproved,whereasliterarytexts
mostly reveal as a simulacrum of reality, bringing reflections and
questions about the established models to the readers. Examples of
such possibility are given by T 14, when mentioning the books Vidas
Secas,byGraciliano,andMorteeVidaSeverina,byJooCabral,asa
strong representation of peoples life in the countryside, what could
be an object to study in subjects related to agriculture. T 15, in turns,
emphasizes the human inherent need to subjectivity, which can be
foundinliterarytexts,byprovidinganopeningfromwhichreaderscan
befreetointerpret.
The other respondents, 7 (30,4%) teachers and 7 (30,4%)
students,decidednottopresentjustificationsfortheiranswers.
In general, linked to the development of reading and writing, or
linked to a more critical and creative schooling, the respondents
pointedasimportantthestudy of literature for technical professional
schooling. However, when confronting this view with the answers
given to another question of the questionnaire about the role of
subjectsfromhighschoolintechnicalcourses,itisnoticedatendency
oftheteacherstoseeitasjustabaseorsupportfortechnicalsubjects
wherewith they work. Some of such teachers even call them
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supportingsubjects:
T 5: The subjects from high school used in the integrated technical
courseserveasasupportinexecutingandimprovingthefunctions
ofthetechnician.
T16:Highschoolisasupportfortechnicalschooling.
T17:Subjectsfromhighschoolareasupportfortechnicalcourses.
T18:Highschoolisatooltoimprovethetechnician.
In other words, although posited as important, the study of
literature in technical schooling is reduced to a supporting subject.
Thewordsupportprovidesgreatlyanideaofsecondarization,thatis,
the subject remains aside in technical schooling. Would this not be
related to that old idea of technical schooling only being suitable for
skilled handwork for labor market? As the new idea of integrated
schoolingdefendsabreakintheoldtradition of dividing intellectual
work and handwork, should not subjects of general schooling,
including literature, and subjects of technical schooling have same
importance?
Hence, based on the views of teachers and students from the
studied institution, it can be said that literature has not been fully
acknowledged or exploited yet, even in the courses where it is a
compulsorysubject(theintegratedtechnicalcourses).Itispossibleto
infer that such views, explicitly or implicitly transmitted by the
teachers, are rooted in the studied curriculum, and this echoes in the
students; this can be one of the reasons why some of them are not
conscious that the study of literary texts can represent an important
waytobecomeabetterprofessionalcitizen.
Conclusion
Thefunctionsthatliteraturecanperformforreadersandscholarsare
various.Fromaestheticpleasure,whichawakensdifferentemotions,to
the analysis of its content, which interfaces with other areas of
knowledge, literature has demonstrated an important way to develop
knowledgeandhumanconsciousness.Onthatbasis,itsstudyshouldbe
considered in the educational process of citizen formation. As the
integratedtechnicalcourseshaveanobligationtoformcitizens,asLDB
(educational law in Brazil) mandates, and to train innovative
professionals required by the new contexts in the world of the work,
literaturebecomesanimportantsubjecttoincludeinthecurriculum.
As seen, the teachers and students from the studied institution still
carry vestiges of a traditional utilitarianpragmatic view about the
professional schooling in Brazil, although some of them already
indicateaninclinationtoincludenewperspectivesintheirpraxis.Such
ambivalenceresidesontheborderofdichotomybetweenintellectual
work and handwork. Finally, the approach of this paper emanates
from the worry about the teaching patterns adopted in technical
courses, aiming to hold them off from an attitude that the study of
literatureshouldbesubordinateandmerelysupportive.
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break the dualism between intellectual work and handwork. And it

him/herself and the world around them, however, is

presented in the next section). This devaluation of the study of

Being, therefore, so close to reality, literary fiction brings up

3. The view of teachers and students from IFPE Belo Jardim

being important, the literary text should bring up a specific content,

Formaode professores e prticas docentes: olhares contemporneos.

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