The history of Afro-Brazilian childhood: Eighteenth century disciplinarity, learning and playfulness in literary books

Abstract

Based on 19 and 20^th century historiographical and literary productions, Afro-Brazilian children and their life trajectory, their insertion within a Europeanized cultural milieu, their experiences, toys and games are investigated. First, children´s day-to-day social life in the Nineteenth century is presented through narratives in the literature, with special reference to the infancy of black children within the context of slavery and its terrible consequences up to the present. Discussions on the African roots of slavery and its heritage trigger a reflection on the history of Afro-Brazilians, emphasizing the social role of boys and girls in situations of captivity. Nineteenth-century and even 20^th century narratives reveal that these social agents felt free only during their first years of life. From the age of six or seven years, the children were introduced to the logic of the slave system, occupying specialized or semi-specialized tasks and offices. Current approach to the theme reveals that significant childhood´s sociocultural practices of Afro-Brazilian children may be found in historiographical and literary discourses by Joaquim Manoel de Macedo, Machado de Assis, José Lins do Rego and Gilberto Freyre.