Young people do not recognize themselves in the history of Brazil, but some recognize themselves more than others

notes for a Pedagoginga in the teaching of afro-brazilian history and culture

Abstract

If young people do not identify themselves, don't feel belonging and don't see themselves as agents of history, what remains? Does the history make sense, then? What effect does the master narrative of history have? Does the relationship that different groups of youth establish with it vary? Are there connections between how the youth relate to history and the regime of historicity? In this article, we delve these and other questions, seeking to understand how youth relate to History, a task that we understand involves the above-mentioned issues. We share the results of a research study that investigated 277 narratives written in the year 2019 by young people aged between 12 and 24 years old from different formal education stages in the city of Ponta Grossa, Paraná, with the question "tell the story of your country". A network-oriented methodology was used for the analysis of the elements (characters, plots and events) that make up the narratives, as well as to investigate three categories mobilized in the analysis: identification, belonging and agency. We found absences in history concerning young people in three senses; overall, young people: 1. do not identify with history; 2. do not feel belonging to History; 3. do not see themselves as agents of History. Although general, these findings are more pronounced when it is young black individuals who write history. Based on these results, we discuss the need to study other histories that involve different characters, events, agents, regimes of historicity and purposes. We argue, among other possibilities, in favor of a "pedagoginga", in dialogue with recent debates in the field of history teaching in Brazil.