Abstract: This text analyzes the literature on aesthetic literacy and the teaching of history, focusing on the construction of Brazilian national identity through 19th century works of art. The author reviewed theses and dissertations, highlighting the importance of teaching teachers and students to understand visual language in order to better interpret these works. The study aims to develop a historian attitude in 8th grade students through the analysis of images and their role in the construction of national identity. The research highlights the need for a better understanding and use of images as pedagogical tools and historical sources.

Keywords: Aesthetic literacy, History teaching, and national identity.

Introduction

This text presents a review of the specialized literature on aesthetic literacy, imagetic discourse, and the teaching of history. It seeks to provide support for answering the question of what discourse and knowledge about the project of constructing Brazilian national identity materialized in 19th-century works of art. It also seeks to determine whether reading these works is capable of developing the historian attitude in 8th-grade elementary school students.

The primary focus of this article is the master’s thesis, entitled “Aesthetic Literacy, Imagetic Discourse, and the Teaching of History: The Construction of the Brazilian National Identity Project and the Development of the Historian Attitude Based on 19th-Century Works of Art.” This thesis was developed at the Professional Master’s Postgraduate Program (PROFHISTÓRIA) at the Federal University of Sergipe (UFS) during the 2023-2024 academic year. The study, entitled “Century Works of Fine Art,” was conducted during the 2023-2024 biennium at the Professional Master’s Postgraduate Program – PROFHISTÓRIA, based at the Federal University of Sergipe – UFS.

The survey was conducted between August and December 2023. The research team consulted the CAPES database (https://catalogodeteses.capes.gov.br/catalogo-teses/#/) and the PROFHISTÓRIA database (https://www.profhistoria.com.br/articles?terms=disc) to identify relevant theses and dissertations. Additionally, the team consulted the BDTD database (https://bdtd.ibict.br/vufind/) to identify texts from theses and dissertations published between 2018 and 2023. These texts were produced in the areas of human sciences, education, literature, linguistics, arts, and philosophy. The database, https://bdtd.ibict.br/vufind/, was utilized to retrieve texts from theses and dissertations published between 2018 and 2023. These works were produced in the areas of human sciences, education, literature, linguistics, arts, and philosophy. The descriptors employed as filters were as follows: The following search terms were used: “aesthetic literacy and history teaching,” “aesthetic literacy and history teaching,” “national identity and history teaching,” “national identity and images,” “national identity and paintings,” “national identity and romanticism,” “aesthetics and romanticism,” “plastic arts and history teaching,” “paintings.” In addition, the following descriptors were used as filters: “aesthetic literacy and history teaching,” “romanticism and history teaching,” “historian attitude,” “aesthetic literacy and teaching,” “history teaching and aesthetics,” “history teaching and art,” “history teaching and images,” “discourse and images,” “imagetic discourse,” and “discourse and plastic arts.”

The results of the study revealed that 420 papers addressed the use of pictorial images in teaching and representations of Brazilian national identity. Of these, 375 (89%) were published as dissertations, while the remaining 45 (11%) were in the form of doctoral theses. However, these figures do not represent the total number of papers that were analyzed. It is noteworthy that only one-fifth of the material focused on teacher training, aesthetic literacy, and historian attitude. From this universe, only 12 texts were selected for full reading.

In considering the relationship between pictorial expression and national identity, the texts were divided into two categories: those that analyze representations in textbooks and those that present methodologies for teaching history. The first text addresses the contributions that visual culture makes to national identity by examining the role of images of slavery in history teaching, considering textbooks as a means of circulation and reception. The second text investigates the potential of the imagery used in textbooks to teach history.
Other texts examine the manner in which the order of discourse positions visual images in history textbooks and the construction of the concept of HA in history textbooks from the Geração Alpha collection (2018), particularly the sixth grade book for the final years of elementary school.

In terms of contributions, the authors posit that visual culture is a viable approach for interpreting images of slavery in history teaching (Vieira, 2022). In addition, there are initiatives to utilize images by Portinari (selected for his relevance in translating Brazilian identity in the 20th century) in the sense that textbooks should consider the various dimensions of the image in order to make the practice of learning history effective (Carmo, 2021). Other responses state that textbooks organize and utilize images as visual representations articulated to the knowledge they intend to transmit through school (Publiesi, 2020). Images in textbooks are not only discursive; they also relate to the development of the Historian Attitude (HA), as defined in the body of the Common National Curriculum Base (BNCC). However, as Silva (2022) notes, textbooks still lack a comprehensive understanding of the HA concept and its proper application.

With regard to the theoretical framework, it was found that only two texts did not provide any information on this topic. The remainder, both those that explore textbooks and those that deal with teaching methodologies, exhibited a dispersion of perspectives. Some texts employ categories typical of history theory and history epistemology, such as the “space of experience” and “horizon of expectations” (R. Koselleck) and the “regime of historicity” (F. Hartog), to analyze the past, present, and future dynamics in history textbooks.

In terms of methodologies, we would highlight the works that have made use of the concepts of “aesthetic relations” (Passos, 2023) and “aesthetic education” (Vázquez, 1999; Giani, 2010; Soares Junior, 2019; and Schlichta, 2011).

Additionally, there are texts that examine the skills typically associated with the discipline of history, such as the concept of a “historian’s attitude” (A. Mauad). Other authors employ central categories to inform research methodology. For instance, Carmo (2021) presented discourse analysis (M. Foucault), voices of discourse (M. Bakhtin), and linguistic analysis. Additionally, the concepts of art, image, and visuality (Hernández) were employed to analyze pictorial representations. Furthermore, action research informed the choices for collecting and processing sources.

In any case, our analysis revealed that when the authors employed the concept of “discourse,” the majority of them utilized M. Foucault’s notion of “discourse” to describe and typify pictorial representations, irrespective of whether the dissertation was defended in a History or Linguistics program.

Discussion

From the preceding analysis, it is evident that the theses and dissertations encompass a spectrum of perspectives on the utilisation of images in the context of History teaching. These perspectives encompass a range of considerations, including aesthetic and cultural issues, as well as specific methodologies.

The incorporation of visual literacy, the analysis of specific paintings and artists, the critique of textbooks, and the proposal of novel methodological approaches indicate a shift towards a perspective that considers knowledge to be the result of the dialectical relationship between what we learn through the intellect and what we experience with the senses. This allows for the possibility of teaching and learning using other languages.

The text by Passos (2023) addresses the issue in an original manner, arguing that the current teaching-learning model favors only objective, rational knowledge. Consequently, history teachers should establish dialogical relationships between the rational world and the sensible world of their students. Therefore, it is essential for these professionals to have access to aesthetic education through art.

With regard to the objects, it was observed that teaching methodologies had a dominant presence in this review, as in works such as those by Divino (2021), França (2018), Gonçalves (2021) and Pereira (2022). However, the theme of the project to build a Brazilian national identity was not explored by any of them.

A synthesis of the literature revealed that 41% of the texts exhibited classic problems in academic writing. Some texts omitted objectives, hypotheses, and problems. Others lacked coherent connections between problems and hypotheses. Additionally, some dissertations did not reveal theoretical frameworks, relating authors and categories (sometimes omitting the first, sometimes omitting the second element).

Although they address the topic of “literacy” and the “literacy” of images, the majority of these texts fail to provide an in-depth analysis of the images themselves, as well as guidance on how to conduct this analysis independently.
However, it is not all negative when it comes to writing about the representation of Brazilian national identity in history teaching. There are texts whose results are noteworthy in terms of ideological, theoretical, and didactic-pedagogical aspects.

With regard to the ideological aspect, we encounter texts that serve as a primary instrument for consolidating the myth of the Brazilian nation in the national imagination (Costa, 2022) and present a methodology that transforms the classroom into a site for the production of historical knowledge (through readings and interpretations) rather than a mere reproducer of information (França, 2018). Another text exposes the perspective of human knowledge, not just rational or only sensitive (Passos, 2023).

In relation to the theoretical-methodological highlights, we found texts that consider pedagogical practice in the light of the textbook, focusing on the concept of HL, standardized by the BNCC (Silva, 2022), which contributes to a better use of the didactic resource as it ceases to be a mere reproducer of content. Another noteworthy text is that of Vieira (2022), which discusses the necessity for teachers to grasp and transmit a visual culture to their students, as it provides the theoretical basis for understanding image composition and, consequently, the underlying discourse.

With regard to the contributions of these results to the construction of our research, we found that six texts are particularly useful in deepening our knowledge of the subject in its theoretical-methodological aspects. These include Costa (2022), França (2018), Passos (2023), Pereira (2022), Silva (2021), and Silva (2022). The first of these, written by Silva (2021), presents a theoretical framework that is fully compatible with the research object in terms of image reading.

In terms of theoretical support, we highlight the contributions made by the three scientific articles on HA (Franco, Silva Junior and Guimarães, 2018; Pereira and Rodrigues, 2018; Silva and Morais, 2017), contained in Silva’s work (2022), and the iconographic information on the painter Victor Meireles, presented in Costa’s work (2022).

Similarly, the theoretical framework utilized by França (2018) is consistent with my research topic when it presents: Barca (2012) proposed that the teaching of history is not only about studying content, but also about its practical functions. He further argued that the image, as a historical source, needs to be explored through its own methodologies. Finally, he asserted that the historical source is not an intrinsic end, but should be at the service of the questions and issues raised by students and teachers. Selva Guimarães (2012) also made similar arguments.

Nevertheless, the most valuable contributions of this review to my research are those of Passos (2023) and Pereira (2022). In the former, I highlight Schlichta’s (2011) conception of the teacher as a mediator in the reading of images, given that aesthetic sensitivity is not innate but the result of social praxis. Next, I will discuss the view of João Francisco Duarte Júnior (2007), who posits that knowledge is the result of the dialectical relationship between what we learn through the intellect and what we experience with the senses. According to Duarte Júnior, in order to overcome a teaching-learning model based on objective, rational knowledge, history teachers must, in their teaching practices, dialogically relate the rational and sensitive worlds of their students. In this case, there is an understanding of visual art as a manifestation of this sensitive world where the author himself has used his own language to communicate.

As for the second text, its importance for my study lies in the author’s approach to the relationship between the Brazilian Historical and Geographical Institute (IHGB) and the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts (AIBA) in the construction of the identity of the Brazilian nation in the 19th century.

The facade of the former Imperial Academy of Fine Arts (watercolor on paper, Jean-Baptiste Debret) and The First Mass in Brazil (Victor Meirelles, 1861) are presented herewith.

As previously stated, the objective of this study was to examine the discourse and knowledge about the project of building a Brazilian national identity present in 19th-century works of art and to determine the extent to which the reading of these works by (aesthetically literate) history teachers can develop the historian attitude in 8th-grade students.

 

Conclusions

We have identified a lack of analysis of the visual language of artworks from the period in question in order to teach history teachers and students to understand the visual language used in these works. Furthermore, we have not identified any analysis of the imagetic discourse of artworks related to the construction of Brazilian national identity.

This review was instrumental in exposing the limitations of existing studies on the process of reading visual works of art. Without the requisite literacy, these works of art will be of no use whatsoever, and will be useless even for use as a historical source and/or didactic resource by teachers in their teaching practice.

We are convinced that the most effective approaches to addressing the research questions will have to involve three key actions. Firstly, alignment with the conceptual perspectives of “image reading” by Dondis (2015) will provide an understanding of the basic visual elements (visual syntax) that comprise art of this nature. This will allow those who are familiar with visual signs to apprehend, interpret, criticize, and disseminate what the artist has communicated through his visual text, according to Schlichta’s (2011) concept of “aesthetic education.” Secondly, the use of Foucault’s (2015) concept of discourse analysis to understand the image as discursive materiality and extract from it what has been communicated beyond its constituent signs. Finally, we will use Mauad’s concept of “historian attitude” to demonstrate how, in fact, reading works of art linked to the construction of our national identity can contribute to developing this concept, which is also included in the BNCC.

Once this endeavor is complete, we will endeavor to avoid repeating the defects captured in this literature review. We have already announced the fundamental terms of our research project, which will consist of a dissertation. The dissertation’s theme is “Aesthetic literacy, imagetic discourse, and the teaching of history: the construction of the Brazilian national identity project and the development of the historian attitude based on 19th-century works of fine art.” This dissertation finds its reason in the questions: 1) What is the discourse and knowledge about the project of constructing the Brazilian national identity materialized in 19th century works of fine art?
2) How is reading these works capable of developing a historian’s attitude in 8th grade students? To this end, we propose to provide history teachers and students with the technical conditions to read and understand their own signs and what lies beyond them. We hope that this reading of images will enable history teachers to make better use of images, both as a pedagogical tool in teaching and as a historical source, useful in understanding the process of constructing historical knowledge and capable of developing a historian’s attitude in 8th grade students.

The five paintings, arranged in time between 1822 and 1890, will be analyzed to identify the underlying imagery and understand how our national identity was constructed. Unlike traditional approaches, which rely on written texts, this analysis will focus on the visual elements of the paintings, including lines, dots, composition, and colors.

This step-by-step process of reading and analyzing the discourse of images will also be the subject of an audiovisual production that will serve as the educational product required to obtain a master’s degree in history teaching.

References

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Autor

Amintas Henrique da Silva Ramos has a master’s degree and a degree in history from the Federal University of Sergipe and is a history teacher in the Barreto municipal school system.

To cite this article

RAMOS, Amintas Henrique Silva. Alfabetização estética e Ensino de História – Uma revisão da literatura em teses e dissertações. Crítica Historiográfica. Natal, v.4, n.16, mar./abr., 2024. Disponível em <https://www.criticahistoriografica.com.br/en/aesthetic-literacy-and-history-teaching-a-review-of-the-literature-in-theses-and-dissertations-amintas-henrique-silva-ramos-profhistoria-ufs/>.

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Crítica Historiográfica. Natal, v.4, n. 16, Mar/Apr, 2024 | ISSN 2764-2666