Theoretical approaches in the discussion of literature in school

Abstract

Throughout the 20th century, and until the present, the debate over literature teaching at school has become more complex thanks to the contributions of literary theory, linguistics, pedagogy, sociology, among other disciplines. When facing the polemic question on what for or why teaching literature, these disciplines legitimated such practice at the education system assigning it different functions and objectives. Among them are communication, pleasure, subjectivity construction, artistic appreciation and critical thought development. Meanwhile some disciplines keep dichotomous concepts and attitudes (such as classic literature versus youth literature, books versus technology, communicative function versus aesthetic function), some other try to conciliate such divisions from a multidisciplinary sight. On the present paper we propose analyzing and presenting an argumentative map of these ways of justifying literature at school, considering recent approaches starting from those that emerged about half of the 20th century, the “pleasurable pedagogies†that set what can be the main discussion. This path is not presented on an expositive or a descriptive manner, but on a critical perspective as it questions the concepts kept about literature, teaching, students, teacher role, etc. Thus, we question those perspectives that blocked literary lecture, being this last one a process and an experience that allows reading critically the world and no as a mere curricular topic that must be evaluated and learnt. Thusly, we try to set a debate, problematizing these proposals as a necessary thing –as teachers and mediators- for positioning ourselves theoretically so that the decisions taken at class led to modifying the relationship between students and literature.