The problem of the education of the reading in the last quarter of 19th century: Portugal, Brazil and the debate on pair decline/delay

Abstract

This article aims to investigate aspects of the diffusion of João de Deus’ teaching reading method in Brazil during the last quarter of the nineteenth century. Taking in consideration the intellectual mobilization which the method´s propagation has brought with it, it is believed that it was part of a larger program of redimensioning the awareness of the topic decay/delay in Portuguese and Brazilian societies. At the same time we also discuss here the persecution of the itineraries of the advertisers of the method when attention turned to the individuals who embarked on the journey of transposition of the Atlantic in order to promote the dissemination of the João de Deus´ method. In sum, the article aims to measure the extent of the redimensioning previously mentioned, particularly in terms of the Brazilian challenges in its efforts to take place in the “march of civilization” in the Western world.