‘Skin Color(s)’ in discourse: meanings produced by student subjects in early childhood education

Abstract

This article stems from a qualitative doctoral research grounded in the Discourse Analysis theory developed by Michel Pêcheux, investigating the discursive movement and the effects of meaning that emerge in the discourse of student subjects at a kindergarten class (5-years-old), in early childhood education, as they engage with the folklore legends of Cabra-Cabriola and Chibamba, both part of the Ciclo da Angústia Infantil (Childhood Anguish’s Cycle), proposed by Câmara Cascudo. The study aims to investigate how the subjects move discursively, construct meanings, and establish relationships of identification with the legends, especially in discourses related to skin tones. We highlight the use of the signifier ‘skin color,’ through which the student subjects attributed meanings to the legends. The research is situated within the field of discourse studies, analyzing how discursive formulations indicate the effects of ideology, discursive memory, and circulating discursive formations. To this end, the study examines a segment of data collected in a municipal early childhood education school, located in Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, in the beginning of 2023. Given the oral-discursive nature of the material, the discourses were first audio-recorded, then transcribed and analyzed. The findings indicate that the socio-historical context, social antagonism and ideology interpellate the subjects’ discourse, sustaining both the reproduction of dominant discursive formations and the productions of new ones made possible by historical and social transformations.