The letters of ABC

educational resources disseminating the catholic faith and moralism in the teaching of the first letters in Brazil

Abstract

The studies of the History of brazilian Education indicate that two didactic forms marked the entry of certain sectors of the population to formal educational processes in Brazil since the colonial period: the Letters for reading and, later, the ABC Letters. Theis article, with the intention of contributing to the History of Literacy, aims to provide new analytical elements through digital documentary research on these materials of Portuguese origin, that possibly circulated and then influenced the production of ABC Letters in national context, including in songs and memories of Brazilian personalities. The reach of the Letters and especially the ABC Letters in Brazil shows a certain effectiveness of this formative model (characterized by the emphasis on memorizing letters, syllables and phrases) to the extent that it subsequently boosted the publishing market for the production and marketing of literacy booklets until the 1980s, when it was problematized by the studies of Emília Ferreiro and Ana Teberosky (1985). We conclude that these educational resources operated as instruments of dissemination of the Catholic faith through the Portuguese language and Latin, as a political strategy of expansion of the domains of Portugal. And although they are similar in form and content, there are different ABC Letters, with or without declared authorship, used at home or at school for teaching reading. Some copies currently remain on the shelves of stationery stores, which raises studies on their longevity in the scope of didactic literature.