Contributions to a critical analysis of the official discourse on literary education

Abstract

In this text, we intend to present some contributions for the analysis of the official discourse that emerges from the transposition of the concept of literary education to the normative texts referring to Portuguese (subject) in Basic Education in Portugal. Thus, we try to discuss, at first, the very concept of literary education, in order to articulate it with the problem of literary reading. We also seek, within the framework of theoretical reflection, to highlight the relation between literary reading and the subjectivity of the reader. Subsequently, proceeding the non-obtrusive data analysis of the above mentioned normative texts, we will present an analytical and critical reading of the official discourse. We conclude that there seems to be a mismatch between the objectives of an effective literary education and the Program and Curricular Goals of Portuguese with possible negative implications in the possible range of practices adopted in the classroom.