The use of sources in classroom: the work of Maria Firmina dos Reis (1859) as a mediator in the study of black slavery in Brazil

Abstract

Assuming that school also produces historical knowledge, the importance of using sources in classroom is discussed as one of the premises for the construction of historical literacy, presenting as work proposal, the use of the novel “Ursula”, written by Maria Firmina Reis (1859), as a rich historical source by presenting a vision of the slaves as historical subjects. Maria Firmina dos Reis ventured to write within the possibilities that Brazilian society of the nineteenth century imposed at the time, dribbling the difficulties of her time and, in 1859, publishing her novel “Ursula”, an unique work made by a woman of African ancestry in which is highlighted the condition of inequality that women, African and their descendants were submitted in nineteenth-century Brazil, due to the patriarchal system. It is considered the prior knowledge on the topic that is presented by high school students from two public schools located in Londrina (PR), whereas the new knowledge arises from prior knowledge, pointing, among others, the importance of soap operas and representations found in textbooks. It is presented a discussion on the national debate about black slavery in Brazil where the slave is seen as historical subject, from new approaches buoyed in sources and renewed documentary research showing the relative autonomy of African and their descendants in captivity and advances in the fight for a African-Brazilian history, through the law 10.639/03, which made compulsory in the curriculum of basic education the study of African history. It is also approached the work with historical sources in a critical way in classes, contributing to the process of teaching and learning whose basis consists in research, discussion, formation of critical and inventive minds, introducing students to the historiographical process and/or construction of historical knowledge. Positive results are inferred by the use of Firmina’s work in building a vision of the slave as historical agent, permeating the study of black slavery in Brazil with more general directions, making the learning process more productive and challenging. In short, it appears that history and literature, in the teaching process, enable a privileged space for the production of historical knowledge at school.