Coração: a secular reading and its presence in Brazil

Abstract

This article is an excerpt from the research project “Image reading in the teaching of history: a study on changes and permanence in prescriptions, textbooks and cultural representations” (LIDHIS). It presents an analysis, among the many possible ones, of the reading condition in the book Cuore, written by Edmondo De Amicis, translated into Brazilian Portuguese with the title Coração. Centenary, the book had its first edition published in 1886, in Italy, and became a great editorial success, mainly because it was adopted in schools. In this investigation, four copies published in the middle of the 20th century in Brazil were analyzed, focusing on the materiality of the work. We sought to identify the relationships between the characteristics of the book’s presentation, identified on the covers, in the illustrations and in the choice of language, with the practice of reading. This investigation is based on Chartier’s (2002) considerations about the school book as an object of circulation. Other fundamental studies, which deal with the analysis of the graphic design, the function of illustration and reading as a social practice, are presented and discussed, respectively, from Collaro (2000), Camargo (1995) and Kleiman (2013). As a method of analysis, we opted for the bibliographic study, for the search and analysis of informal dialogues about the reading experience of the work, and for field research in libraries and newspapers. Regarding the results, the present investigation allowed us to conclude that: the book Coração circulated in Brazil, especially in the northeast region of the state of Rio Grande do Sul; the standardization of copies in the pocket book format made it possible to access readers more easily, including at the sale price, made possible by the investment in long runs for distribution and internal circulation in Italy and abroad; the editorial project, over time, brought together visual aspects that streamline and promote the encouragement of reading; the practice of reading the book aloud, used by teachers at school, was a persuasive force in reading and contributed to students’ awareness of the contents of the short stories present in the work.