CHILDREN'S LITERATURE IN
LATIN AMERICA:
GENDER IDENTITY IN THE
EDUCATION
Daniela De Leo, Gabriella Armenise
Università del Salento
Abstract: This
essay explores the notion of gender identity as a dynamic process, modelled by
socio-cultural relationships, in the context of education in Latin America. The
historical construction of schooling in recent decades is discussed through
some documents of UNESCO. As an example of gender inequality within educational
proposals, some texts from children's literature will be analysed to highlight
the gender stereotypes that still exist in the editorial industry today.
Keywords: gender
identity, educational policies, literature, childhood.
1.EDUCATION IN LATIN AMERICA
America
was the first continent to be subjugated by the European powers, with a
presence that lasted more than three centuries and profoundly influenced the
history of this area. The European powers took advantage of their superior
strategic military and technological capabilities to conquer the whole of Latin
America within a century. The interest of the European colonisers was linked to
the natural resources of the region. For the Spaniards were interested mainly
gold and silver, while for the Portuguese were interested to agriculture with
the cultivation of sugar cane and to trade of slaves as labour force. The
Spanish and Portuguese colonial experience came to an end in the 19th century:
in a few decades, Mexico and the countries of Central and South America
achieved independence, while the Caribbean, Cuba and Puerto Rico remained
Spanish until the end of the century. Brazil, colonised by Portugal, had a
different story. Here, independence was achieved with the proclamation of an
empire in 1822, governed by the Portuguese rulers, who had taken refuge there
to escape Napoleon. This led to a smoother transition, which gave greater
stability to the country, which was spared the war of independence; the
Brazilian empire also kept in place the officials of the previous
administration. The imperial experience ended peacefully in 1889. For this
Latin
America was the product of an idea, and this idea remains at the heart of its
vision of the future: the construction of a democratic society. The process by
which the continent achieved its independence was inextricably linked to the
republican ideal and its liberators dedicated themselves to the realisation of
this dream. The historical outcome, however, involved a strange journey of
discovery, full of contradictions, interruptions, and reconnections, of sunsets
and sunrises (UNDP, 2004, p. 197).
Specifically
in education, the availability of educational resources is linked to the action
of the state (or the decision to leave this sphere to the private sector); this
has obviously influenced not only the quantity of resources, but also the
quality of education: Specifically in education, the availability of
educational resources is linked to the action of the state (or the decision to
leave this sphere to the private sector); this has obviously influenced not
only the quantity of resources, but also the quality of education: paradigmatic
is the case of model higher education Latin American threatened by the policies
that have been established in various countries. Existing social inequality
conditions inequalities in educational opportunities: this is most evident, at
the individual level, when different forms of disadvantage accumulate (being indigenous
and being poor, for example) and, at the level of states, when it is observed
that the lowest rates of education are in countries with a high indigenous
population. More generally, social stratification in Latin America, with the
indigenous element and its various combinations with whites, presents original
characteristics, while another particularity is the high level of
informalisation of the economy: it has always been known that educational
performance is linked to position in the stratification system or class
structure and, more specifically, it is known that the flexibility of work
hinders the ability to make plans in the medium to long term.
A
document of the Laboratorio Latino
Americano de Evaluacion de la Calidad de l'Educacion (ERCE, 2008)[1]
states that although there are similarities due to common historical origins,
influenced mainly by France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal, "not even two
countries have the same structure" (Id., p. 35). Pre-primary
education generally begins between the ages of 3 and 4, is not compulsory
(except in Mexico) and sometimes takes place at the primary school site. The
last pre-school year is compulsory in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica,
Cuba, Mexico, Peru, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay. Regarding the start of
schooling, Urquiola and Calderon (2006) report that
in most of the region the starting age is 6 and the primary and secondary
system overall lasts 12 years, although there are countries like Guatemala and
El Salvador where it starts at 7 and countries like Colombia in which overall
lasts 11 years[2].
As regards education in the 15-18 age group, there is almost everywhere a
technical-vocational branch, which sometimes leads to technical tertiary
education. As for tertiary education, which conventionally covers the age group
comprising the five years after the end of secondary education, it presents a
variety of situations, only some of which can be assimilated to the university
higher education model. To test the assessment of education, the 2019 ERCE has
developed tests and survey questionnaires to be administered to third and sixth
grade students. It is the largest large-scale assessment implemented with the
active participation of 18 Latin American countries. Since its creation, the
Laboratory has been a regional reference and framework for consultation and
cooperation between countries in the field of educational assessment. It has
provided technical support for the education and training of teams responsible
for national measurement and evaluation systems, it has been a source of access
to information on this subject, and it has made available databases for the
development of education policies based on empirical evidence.
An
initial figure on education can be drawn from these findings. Major changes are
observed: the illiteracy rate has declined from 71% in 1900, to 47% in 1950 and
to 10% for the period 1995-2019.
As
to the moment of the decrease in the disadvantage, it is noted that certain
countries, specifically the ones which received well-educated emigrants from
European Union, had reduced the gap before 1930 and are still the ones with the
highest literacy in the area. These are some countries such as Argentina,
Chile, Cuba and Costa Rica. On the whole, the countries that entered into
schooling at a later date (after 1960) are the Central American ones (Haiti
even after 1970): Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua. This is due to a later
industrialisation and urbanisation, whereas overall the export-based economies
did not lead to many efforts to increase education. While in other countries
after 1930 the education of the population started to increase significantly,
among them: El Salvador, Mexico, Paraguay, Panama, Peru, Venezuela, Dominican
Republic and after 1950 also Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Bolivia. A trend in
the difference between males and females (55% of the group of illiterate people
today is composed of females, but this is a matter of their greater life
expectancy) reveals that after the initial expansion of the divide in terms of
the percentage of people who are illiterate (especially in Argentina, Chile,
Venezuela, Colombia, Honduras and the Dominican Republic), there has been some
narrowing, but with different patterns in each country. Two groups contrast: for
Brazil, Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador El Salvador, and Paraguay there was a
steady, constant decrease; in the cases for Cuba, Uruguay and Jamaica this
actually translated into a greater percentual of females in literacy.
On
the opposite, there is one group the countries: Guatemala, Peru, and Bolivia
with very high differentials of 20%, even seeming (1995) to increase in the
case of Guatemala. In the case of Mexico, the question about gender inequality
has remained almost unchanged for decades. In this region, the rural/urban
location has made a great divide: in the middle of the century, there was a
disparity of about 40% in literacy among the two parts of the countries.
The changes in school attendance over
time were accompanied by the reorganisation of school systems. According to
Fernandez (2004, pp. 36-39), two sorting criteria can be identified for the
different school systems in Latin America: the date of institutionalisation,
divided into early, intermediate, and late, and the current configuration, divided
into centralised, decentralised and commercialised. In the case of the first
variable, history shows that at the beginning of the 20th century Argentina
(decentralised), Uruguay (centralised) and Chile (commercialised) already had
an institutionalised school system. Compulsory and free education laws already
existed (1877: Uruguay; 1880: Argentina and 1920: Chile) with teacher training
institutes (the oldest founded in Chile in 1841). At the other extreme, the
countries of late institutionalisation, under the impetus in the 1960s and
1970s of the Alliance for Progress, are Peru, Bolivia and Honduras; other
countries of late institutionalisation are Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala,
Nicaragua and Paraguay. All these countries now belong to the category of
centralised school systems. Fernandez notes, however, that a country like
Bolivia, which passed significant laws in the mid-1950s, had no national school
accounting system until the 1990s. Countries with intermediate
institutionalisation are Costa Rica (since 1943), Cuba (since 1959), Colombia
and Venezuela (centralised); Mexico (since 1923), Brazil and Panama are
decentralised[3].
In addition, many countries have constitutionally established clauses that
require that quotas from the national budget are set apart for education.
In summary, we reported on the state
of schooling in Latin America in the last few decades from which it emerged a
progress, although fragmented and slow, to a more appropriate schooling. UNESCO
documents contribute to this potential development.
1.1. UNESCO reports
Two UNESCO flagship publications Learning
to Be: The World of Education Today and Tomorrow (Faure Report, 1972)
and Education a Treasure (Delors
Report, 1996) raise the question of the need to rethink education and
learning for the future. Faure Report, for example, coined the two interlinked
notions of learning society and lifelong learning at a time when traditional
education systems were being called into question.
In view of the learning society in this Report: education, as
we have known it in all forms of societies that have endured for some period of
time, has been the privileged instrument through which existing values and
balances of power have been maintained and kept in place, with all the implications
of both positive and negative character that this process has had for the fate
of nations and the course of history. In terms of the experience of teachers,
learners, and parents, the social function of educational practice-in its many
pedagogical forms and as it plays out in a wide variety of different
contexts-is infinitely complex. The contradictory nature of the basic facts in
this situation helps to explain the very different views on the relationship
between education and society. Broadly speaking, they can be grouped into four
schools of thought.
Idealism, which
considers that education exists in and for itself. Voluntarism, consisting in
the conviction that education can and must change the world, independently of
any changes which may take place in the structure of society. Mechanistic
determinism, according to which the form and future of education are directly
controlled by and more or less synchronized with
surrounding environmental factors. Finally, the school of thought which derives
from all three of these, and which postulates that education necessarily
reproduces and even exacerbates and perpetuates the vices inherent in the
societies which supporters of this school are currently criticizing very
sharply (Faure
Report, 1972,
pp.56-57).
In this Report education should
develop in the learner the ability to learn in a variety of circumstances and
conditions, on a part-time basis, at home using a variety of media, and in
informal settings. The committee was in favour of conceiving of lifelong
education - within the overall educational enterprise - as a process and system
that begins early in life, includes what are now conventionally considered the
school years, and continues throughout life. It is an integration of learning
into our work and leisure time. Learning, in this Report, is seen as a process
of human growth toward fulfilment as an individual and as a member of many
groups in societies.
According to this report, the
acceleration of technological progress and social change meant that the initial
education received was no longer sufficient for a lifetime. While remaining an
essential tool for the transmission of organized knowledge, schools needed to
be complemented by other aspects of social life: social institutions, the work
environment, leisure, and the media. The report affirmed the right and
necessity of every individual to learn for his or her personal, social,
economic, political, and cultural growth. It stated that education is the
cornerstone of educational policies in both developed and developing countries.
Two current trends
are emerging. First, educational institutions are growing in number and
becoming more diversified. Second, traditional structures are becoming less
formal. These developments are in no way incompatible. The fact that certain
school institutions are losing their sacrosanct character may go hand in hand
with the maintenance and development of well-knit school structures. Teaching
circuits may be extended by increasing the quantity of schools of the existing
kind, by setting up schools of a different kind, by part-time teaching and by
out-of-school methods, all of which may take place at the same time. From now
on, all these paths, whether formal or informal, institutionalized or not, will
be acknowledged – on principle – as equally valid. This is the sense in which
the terms “denormalization” and “de-institutionalization” should be understood.
Each person should be able to choose his path more-freely, in a more flexible
framework, without being compelled to give up using educational services for
life if he leaves the system (Faure Report, 1972, p. 185)
The commission said that society
requires the acceptance of the belief that education is life and life is
education.
Indeed, in this Report:
Education is both
a world in itself and a reflection of the world at large. It is subject to
society, while contributing to its goals, and it helps society to mobilize its
productive energies by ensuring that required human resources are developed. In
a mora general way, it necessarily has an influence on the environmental
conditions to which it is at the same time subjected, even if only by the
knowledge about these which it yields. Thus, education contributes to bringing
about the objective conditions of its own transformation and progress (Faure
Report, 1972, p. 55).
In short: education follows the laws
of every human undertaking, growing old and gathering dead wood. To remain a
living organism, capable of satisfying dead wood. To remain a living organism
capable of satisfying with intelligence and vigour the requirements of
individuals and developing societies, it must avoid the pitfalls of complacency
and routine. It must constantly question its objectives, its content, and its
methods. As
emphasised in the Faure Report: only in this way will it be able
to contribute to its own democratization, while aware that this does not depend
on education alone. It is an enormous task, Conceptually, it presupposes that
we cease confusing, as people have more or less consciously done for a long
while, equal access to education with equal opportunity, and broad access to
education with democracy in education. Following this approach, the Delors Report proposed an integral vision of
education based on two fundamental concepts: 'lifelong learning' and the four
pillars of education - learning to know[4],
learning to do[5],
learning to live together and learning to be[6].
The Commission affirms its belief
that education has a fundamental role to play in personal and social
development. The Commission does not see education as a miracle cure or a magic
formula opening the door to a world in which all ideals will be attained, but
as one of the principals means available to foster a deeper and more harmonious
form of human development and thereby to reduce poverty, exclusion, ignorance,
oppression and war.
The Faure and Delors reports have undoubtedly inspired education
policies worldwide. If those reports have laid the foundations for learning
education the UNESCO 2020 report, entitled Inclusion and Education: all
means all, it is dedicated to the theme of inclusion. This Report is part
of the Global Education Monitoring documents, which since 2002 have been
issued by UNESCO to monitor progress in achieving the Sustainable Development
Goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda. The theme of this Report is the
implementation of national and international strategies to help all partners
involved achieve the inclusion goals. The Report provides an overview of issues
related to aspects of inclusion in education, with a focus on those excluded
from educational processes due to the Covid 19 pandemic. Focusing on the causes
that prevent and hinder the implementation of the right of all to access
education systems and paying particular attention to those excluded from
education due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Report calls on countries to pay
more attention to those who are left behind. It also sends a special message to
those who are now rebuilding their education systems after the pandemic. Complementing
the online database on educational inequalities (WIDE
https://www.education-inequalities.org), the Report presents a new, complementary
online platform where countries' laws and policies on inclusion and education
will be reported[7].
Analysis of data showed that although
gender inequalities have decreased in Latin American countries, thanks to the
expansion of education and government subsidies given to the poor, they remain
in education at secondary and especially tertiary level. As a whole, gender equality remains elusive:
sexual violence, insecure school settings, and inadequate health care all
affect girls' self-esteem, participation, and retention in disproportionate
ways. Sexual coercion in exchange for improved marks has also been documented
in countries such as the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico,
Nicaragua, and Panama. In Peru, the lack of toilets influences the school
attendance of girls in rural areas. Textbooks, curricula, and teachers still
reinforce stereotypical views of gender roles in the society. In Peru, boys
still get more care, appreciation, criticism, and feedback than girls. Little
progress has been made in integrating gender into the teacher education
curriculum. The Report data outline the state of school inclusion in 160
countries and are collected in an online database, WIDE - Worldwide Inequality
Database on Education[8]. The
database is complemented by a monitoring tool, SCOPE - Scoping Progress in
Education and an online platform describing laws and policies related to
Inclusion and Education, PEER - Profiles Enhancing Education Reviews.
These data tell us that effective inclusion is still a distant goal globally,
even in high-income countries. But the data also show us a progressive
improvement, due to the joint effort that most countries are making to offer a
better future to their young people. Together with the progress of the
education systems, there is a growing awareness that no one should be left
behind, that everyone should have the opportunity to access education. International
evaluative research is in this perspective the most useful tool for progress:
guided by data we can build a more equal society.
2 Latin American
literatures
Latin America is
not understood as a continent with a uniform culture, but a community in which
values and language should be common. While North America is mainly
characterized by an Anglo-Saxon culture whose values are common, think of
Canada and even more of the United States, Latin America includes the
territories of North America (Mexico) but also South America and Central
America. In these lands different languages are spoken Spanish, Portuguese,
French to a lesser extent, to which are added local languages which are the
result of their evolution.
Different
dominations, different European colonial presence, different migrations and
fusions of people and their cultures have produced very different national and
ethnic entities. For example, Brazil has a language derived from Portuguese and
there is a very diverse mix of peoples (Portuguese, descendants of African
slaves, Italians, Germans, et al.); while Argentina and Uruguay have a majority
presence of European emigration where, in addition to the predominant
percentage of Spanish, there is a decisive Italian influence of no less
incidence and evident result of a massive process of emigration.
The
same is true for other areas of this world where the population was formed by
the overlapping of different ethnic groups. Added to this is the fact that
Latin America is characterized by a very strong state of economic and social
backwardness compared to the United States and Canada. Nevertheless, in this
complex and varied reality there is no lack of a lively cultural and artistic
production appreciated at an international level.
Among
the common elements of this widely varied world, a shared culture of
Mediterranean origin (Hispanic or Iberian, and to some extent also Italian)
undoubtedly stands out, with aggregating factors that derive as much from
classical Greek Latin culture as from traditions and beliefs present in
Christianity. It remains problematic, given the vastness of the territory, to
define this reality as uniform, given the diversity of cultures and traditions
that belong to different states, vast and distant from each other (such as
Brazil, Venezuela, Chile, Argentina, Mexico, Cuba). In the 1960's, Latin
America was originally made up of countries with a Latin idiom, then realities
with a dominant English language were added (Barbados, Jamaica, for example,
while Puerto Rico, as a free state, became associated with the United States).
The
typical literature of this "universe", in the different national
variants, must therefore be framed in a broader cultural vision that refers to
other literary traditions, coming from the Old Continent (Europe): the
literatures of the "motherland", that is the poems and novels typical
of the territories or belonging to the cultural tradition of the same. The
authors of this "universe" look to the classical Greek Latin
tradition, to the Spanish or Portuguese tradition and also to European culture
in general. The region, which is defined "by foreigners" as Latin
America, is such in light of those political choices and cultural realities
perceived as common and unifying. It is understandable, then, why many authors
oscillate between two different axes of understanding and differentiation of
the Latin American space: political or cultural. Similarly to what happened in American
literature, where, for example, Mark Twain is considered by some critics (such
as Ernest Hemingway, also a writer) the first author of a properly North
American literature (think of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn) for
original settings and themes, in the same way we can speak of a true Latin
American literature, when the stories and tales have not only a territorial
setting but also take into account social and cultural issues of the new
continent, making them interesting and original compared to the European
tradition. It is evident that a new
continent has the charm of the originality of the needs that characterize the
territory, which is considered virgin both in economic resources and in
political, existential and cultural expectations. All this is enriched by a
theme common to the whole of Latin America: the analysis and description of the
strong disparities and contradictions existing in the territory, even in the
heterogeneity of the historical-cultural systems of the different Latin American
societies compared.
Clearly,
numerous cultural contributions of the colonizing peoples have been added to
those of the indigenous and African peoples, to a different degree for each of
the countries. It is difficult to easily compare or correlate these
contributions, which, obviously, gave rise to different cultures and national
traditions.
It
is not possible to analyse the different literatures present in the territories
if we do not take into consideration the original matrix, literature of the
"motherland", highlighting the common dialogic elements and the
elements of cultural and thematic antagonism that have characterized their
differentiation. Obviously, the considerations on this aspect cannot be
exhausted in a few lines, given the broad scope of the topic that is not
developed in this analysis. This heterogeneity of the historical-cultural
systems presents in the Latin American social fabric, if opportunely compared -
even in the contradictions or differences -, can be seen as an added value for
any process of critical investigation initiated on literature in its different
expressions. This is a literature that sometimes becomes a discontinuity with
the cultural tradition of the "mother country" and sometimes a
spokesperson or, if you prefer, an "extension" of the literature of
origin in another reality. Beginning in the 20th century, the literature of the
Latin American continent in its Brazilian and Hispanic-American productions
left the condition of secondary literature to become a protagonist on a world
level and promoter of existential visions and conceptions, including
educational ones, the result of the ethnic mixture that has produced a cultural
syncretism that is not sterile, open to dialogue with cultures and traditions
of other continents (Moreno, 1972; Carpentier, 1987;
Candido, 1997; Cornejo Polar, 2000; Puccini, 2000; Rama, 2001).
2.1.
Editorial evolution: introduction to the theme of genre in Latin America
Children's
literature can and must recount reality in its entirety, avoiding stereotypes
and simplifications and adapting it to the needs and sensibilities of children.
What counts is to be able to establish a dialogue with the reader, allowing him
to relive that reality according to a different perspective, through the pages
of a text, to facilitate growth and an optimistic re-elaboration of personal
and cultural experience, which is followed by the construction of identity.
Latin American children's literature not unlike that found in other contexts,
teaches how to read and how to read oneself, insofar as it can allow one to
narrate oneself, to find oneself and to find the other in a shared story. It
obviously does not have the language of multi-culturalism (simple coexistence
of different cultures), but that of inter-culturalism (a relationship between
several cultures and directed towards mutual enrichment in terms of values,
customs and traditions), since it is synonymous with collective participation
and not a simple cultural melting-pot (i.e. a mixture
of individuals of different origins, religions and cultures with the result of
building a shared identity). Goethe spoke of Weltliteratur
(world literature), meaning and imagining the existence of a literature capable
of breaking down cultural differences between men, because they act and think
in the same way; this discourse is not valid in the Latin American reality,
because those narrative contributions that have given rise to different
cultures or national traditions cannot be compared or correlated. Brazil, for
example, has a cultural development that has little to do with those regions
that are the result of Spanish expansion. Starting from the assumption that
every literary production destined for children has its own genesis deriving
from different cultural traditions, fruit of a syncretism based on
hybridization or contamination, it is evident that an author of literature
belonging to the Latin American reality privileges those aspects that are more
assimilable or referable to the world in which he or she lives. For this
reason, the narrative, in the perspective vision of the various authors,
represents, in a selective way in images and emotions, the own identity
ascribable to a given territory. Latin American children's literature is
varied. In some cases, the oral tradition is predominant and rich and the
presence of written production, supported by some publishing houses, is almost
irrelevant. In other cases, the opposite is true. This depends mainly on the
different literacy levels in the different territories, facilitated by
non-profit associations such as IBBY (International Board on Book for Yong
people), in its different national sections, which aim to promote, in the most
disadvantaged and remote territories, the encounter between children and books,
clearly defending their right to read and their consequent cultural growth,
trying to contribute effectively to the defeat of illiteracy.
Among the publishing houses that
publish throughout the continent, we have Revista
Latino americana de Literatura Infantil
y Juvenil (edited in Bogota), Fondo de Cultura Económica (Mexican)
and Norma (Colombian). An interesting editorial project specifically
addressed to children was started by José Martí, a Cuban writer of the 19th
century, with La Etad de Oro y otros
relatos (a monthly editorial project dated 1889)
with the aim of educating and entertaining Spanish-speaking children in Latin
America.
With this magazine, Martí is part
of a wider project with civic-political and pedagogical aims aimed at affirming
Cuban independence (as we can see from a contribution of this intellectual
dated March 25, 1889, dedicated to this theme), starting also and not only from
the education of children. His political commitment hinges on the concept that
there can be no Hispanic American literature (which in fact is part of Latin
American literature) if there is not what he calls a
"Hispano-America," that is, a set of independent states (Martí, 1991,
XXI p. 163). He also affirms, referring to the necessity of a cultural evolution
of his country, that there cannot be great literary works if there are no great
personalities. For Martí, literature becomes the "place" in which to
construct "symbolic possibilities" of "lasting knowledge",
the expression of ideas comparable to "golden seeds", essential for
the construction of a national cultural identity (Martí, 1991, VII p. 22).
Ultimately, each story becomes an expression of cultural "flowering,"
of pleasant reading ("recreation"), of birth-divulgation and extension-sharing
of ideas ("flowering and communication"). (Martí, 1991, VII p. 22).
It is interesting to note how Martí, in the Latin America of the time that had
recently become autonomous from Spain, delved into themes related to the world
of children in order to stimulate their creativity, when other
economic-political-institutional needs seemed more urgent in a society that was
still to be built. It was inspired by editorial models offered by children's
newspapers such as Nouveau magazine des enfants (founded in 1843 by
French publisher Pierre Jules Hetzel).
Martí's editorial project
foregrounds the pedagogical question of roles. The male and female behavioural
models proposed for the society of the time, reaffirm the centrality of
pedagogy with cultural fascinations linked to the European pedagogical
tradition and to children's literature according to ethical-didactic
perspectives. He promotes the image of America's children: people who will
build their identity on freedom of thought, on the quality and elegance of
thought, that is, men who are "eloquent and sincere" (Martí, 2008, p.
4; Waldegaray, 2012).
In
order to make the argument on the pedagogical
question of masculine and feminine roles completer and more comprehensible, but
relating it to contemporary times, we cannot avoid analysing the current
situation of the feminist movement in Latin America. The protagonists of this
reality are indigenous leaders, women warriors and, more generally, political
activists, followed, no less important, by women from humble backgrounds,
subjected to a series of socio-economic and sexual discriminations (think of
the persecution of homosexuality or sexual harassment).
In
the twenty-first century, the feminist movement in Latin America is as
important as it was in Europe in the 1960s and 1970s, albeit with different
battles. The advent of democracies, after years of dictatorships, has made it
possible to pay attention to relevant issues previously neglected. Hence the
sprouting of movements and battles for the defense of
women's rights such as Ni una menos
against feminicide or Pañuelos verdes in reference to the legalization of abortion in
2015 in Argentina. It can therefore be said that feminism, inevitably, becomes
a movement of social "propulsion" throughout Latin America,
transforming itself from a radical counterculture movement to a determining
element in changes in government policies and organization of institutional
systems (as attested, among many and not isolated examples, by the presidency
of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights entrusted to Elisabeth Odio Benito, a declared feminist, attentive to gender
issues). Latin American feminism is structured differently from European
feminism because it has managed to involve the population in broader
reflections where social issues intersect with economic ones. The movement was
also able to involve peasant and indigenous women, far from the issue of gender
equality, with social battles closer to their existential reality (fight
against feminicide, fight against domestic violence, protection of the right to
birth planning and free and conscious motherhood).
This
evolution of the feminist movement has been possible thanks to the spread of
the media and social and every computer means of communication, which have made
social injustices more evident, visible and known to the popular masses. The
media made the protests quickly become mass, strengthening feminist battles and
movements. It is not accidental, for
example, that Mauricio Macri (President of
Argentina), was prompted by the movement to take a position on gender violence
and to be involved in promoting the discussion of the bill regarding the
decriminalization of abortion, which was subsequently approved. In 2018, in
Chile, there was a focus on sexual abuse in universities. The examples of battles
and overcoming gender discrimination are many. We need only look at the
Bolivian and Mexican realities as well.
Ultimately,
the Latin American feminist movement does not aim at specific isolated
campaigns, but at a broader project aimed at promoting a more general evolution
of the social context with the overcoming of economic inequalities, in order to
complete the process of "decolonization" to a certain extent still
unfinished. The purpose of the narrative, in its variety of proposals, is also
to encourage education on gender differences and the plurality of family forms
and models, as well as on the autonomy of constructs with respect to
traditionally understood parental models, for example. In this sense, the new
rewriting of family realities (extended families, parents of the same sex -
with children following adoptions -, families structured on cohabitation and
not on marriage) has introduced a greater elasticity even in the contents and
forms of the "fictional" narrative, proposing unusual "solutions"
and narrative plots. It is evident, in general, and not only in the
specifically Latin American reality, that the presence of a stereotyped vision
of reality, not in line with the needs and changes of society, has been
overcome. Hence the increasing attention, in contemporary Latin American
children's literature, not unlike that of the world, to the debate on parental
figures, parental functions and gender orientation, as far as the focus of our
discourse is concerned, although these three narrative and existential
dimensions are closely related.
The
idea of the family, according to the modern meaning of the term - a concept
surely assimilated also by the Latin American reality - is an "affective
and elective" entity, in which being a father or mother is not necessarily
anchored to gender; this role depends on the set of feelings, values,
responsibilities and ties that found the family itself, reinforced by the
functions of protection and care that are normally exercised towards children.
By receiving such care, children recognize parenthood regardless of their
parents' sexual orientations, giving the concept of family an even deeper
value.
An
adequate approach to gender studies that takes account of contemporary reality,
where there are inevitable differences, contributes, then, in a certainly
constant way, to the rethinking of roles in a given context, in order to
attribute new meanings to models imposed and still present in the imagination. In
Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay, there has been a shift from a predominantly
didactic narrative to one that is increasingly attentive to contemporary
reality, with particular attention to themes linked to urban agglomerations,
often using a humorous language that borders on parody. The didactic centrality
thus gives way to literary play and to a dialoguing openness towards
contemporary literature.
These
countries had common needs and histories, passing through dictatorship, and
strongly supporting the literacy process through the promotion of public
educational institutions and the opening of popular libraries. Significant,
especially in Argentina, has been the contribution of local publishing houses
that have invested in emerging authors.
In
Brazil, the process of conquering the status of both reader and writer began at
the end of the 1940s. The basic public school, in this context, became the
privileged place for the initial process of democratization of the
opportunities to use written texts. In fact, historically, contact with the
text is varied, while level writing, starting with that intended for the world
of childhood, is a privilege of the class in power. Then, thanks to the
intervention of the Federal Government and to the action of the publishing
industry, as well as that of non-profit institutions (interested in the
literacy process) and of local publishing, to which we can add the variety of
magazines, texts and books, level writing has gone from being an individualized
patrimony of the privileged classes to becoming a collective patrimony.
Not
to be overlooked is the literary contribution made by such prominent writers as
Monteiro Lobato, Horcio Quiroga, Janvier Villafañe, Maria Elena Walsh (both in Brazil and
Argentina). In the mid-eighties, the literary production intended for children
in Brazil and Argentina acquired a precise identity. In a specific way in the
Argentinean reality, particular attention was paid to world literature, and a
positive influence certainly came from European authors such as Gianni Rodari (for the attention given to the free creativity of
children, the female models present in his works, the nonsense), Joanne Rowling
(for the Harry Potter saga), Roald Dahl (for the attention paid to the failure
of the educational system, poverty and human wickedness revisited in surreal environments)
and Christine Nöstlinger (appreciated for the themes
linked mainly to the issue of racism and inclusion, according to a strongly
democratic framework).
Important
works intended for children are those of contemporary authors such as Graciela
Montes (Montes, 2003), an Argentinean writer and translator who worked for over
twenty years at the Latin American Publishing Center,
co-editing - together with Delia Pigretti - the
children's literature collection Los tales del Chiribitil.
The Cuban reality is completely different. Its evolution, starting from the
Sixties, has been very complex, especially from an aesthetic point of view. In
fact, it is characterized by the intersection of different currents of thought,
which often end up contradicting, slowing down or deviating from the dominant
orientations.
One need only leaf through the
issues of the above-mentioned magazine, the Revista
Latino americana de Literatura Infantil
y Juvenil (published in Bogotá), to detect the topics of interest to the
Latin American reading public and the dominant themes. For example, if we flip
through the pages of issue 11 of the Revista
Latino americana de Literatura Infantil
y Juvenil (from 2000), we look at: to the role of children's literature in
Venezuela and Peru (in which case, the culture of the Andean world has managed
to preserve its cultural identity, despite "forced" integration with
other cultures); to the ever-increasing importance assumed by picture books; to
the construction of an imaginary of children's literature in Bolivia through
the poetic work of Oscar Alfaro; to the metamorphoses of the character created
by Roy Berocay (Rupert) so dear to Uruguayan
children. There is no lack of interesting references to the production of Gaby
Vallejo Canedo, who acutely recreates the mythology
and religion of Latin America, flanking other texts on the same themes with
stories set in Bolivia. In these realities, the theme of political violence is
present, with a certain recurrence, and therefore a strong denunciation of social
injustices. The ecological theme, very
dear to readers in Costa Rica, is addressed in several issues of the Revista Latino americana de Literatura
Infantil y Juvenil and is also evident in the
highly appreciated literary production of Leda Cavallini Solano.
Students in schools and colleges or preschoolers are recommended, at the
ministerial level, the texts in prose or verse by Clara Amelia Acuña, considered the flagship of Costa Rican children's
literature. Latin American literature, as a whole, is no stranger to the
process of "metafinction," or that form of
fiction that, since 1990, has been introduced into the writing technique of
literature intended for children in the Latin American world, with the
intention of crossing the boundaries of fiction itself, in order to offer the
reader those necessary times of "interruption" functional to the
reading phase, which allow not to remain bound to repetitive models, typical of
the "fictional" narrative of traditional origin, where this writing
technique is not at all contemplated by the authors of the narrative plot. It
is also worth noting the value attributed to images, in Latin American literary
production, where they pass with extreme ability from words to images. An
example, in this sense, is offered to us by the illustrations of the Costa
Rican Vicky Ramos. For further information on these aspects, we can consult the
interesting contributions in issues 12 (2000) and 13 (2001) of the Revista Latino americana de Literatura
Infantil y Juvenil, here chosen as a sample to
highlight some of the themes and writing techniques dear to the editors of the
magazines in this sector (dedicated specifically to children's literature) and
present in Latin America.
Among
other things, a prominent role is given to images by publishing houses such as Ekaré or by editors such as Maria di Mase, who have
actively contributed to the creation of a written memory of orality in the
world of children's literature in Venezuela. But, of course, words can also
merge with magic. In this sense, Gustavo Roldán's Dragon
is noteworthy. From a purely pedagogical point of view, we can see how an
adequate selection of literary production, also with reference to gender
difference, helps to work on the construction of a "divergent"
thought, which becomes fundamental for the construction of the critical thought
of the child, gradually approaching the understanding of the self and the
other. The stereotyped reality with boundaries delimited by an oppressive and
apodictic morality crumbles in the face of a path of individualized and
divergent thinking, stimulated by the vision and knowledge of the complexity of
the society in which one lives, which can only be mortified by the
trivialization resulting from stereotypes. The pedagogical approach
increasingly affirms the need to overcome pre-established patterns, according
to a careful choice of school texts, books or fairy tales. These literary
genres favor the construction of the subject's
identity, which opens, through them, the cultural horizons of the user, opening
his mind to the infinite possibilities of the world around him. In this way,
the citizen of the future will be increasingly free from prejudice and
conventional choices, very often linked to gender, and will be less and less
inclined to perpetrate any form of gender-based violence (Armenise,
De Leo, 2021).
Worthy
of note are the publications carried out by Editorial Chirimbote,
in Argentina, with the Antiprincesas series,
arrived in Italy with Rapsodia Edizioni. The Antiprincesas Series was born in 2015 with the
intention of telling real stories - through illustrations - of women who did
not submit to a stereotyped role imposed by Society. Each female protagonist,
from the Latin American world (e.g. Frida Khalo, the first protagonist proposed by the Series), has
the characteristic of being a non-conformist character, faithful to the ideals
of justice, truth and freedom according to an alternative imagery outside the
usual canons. Nadia Fink turns out to be the author of the internationally
successful Antiprincesas, Antihéroes
series, and books intended for children as well as volumes for adults on gender
roles and feminism (Feminismo para jóvenas: Ahora que sí nos ven
in 2018, written with Laura Rosso; and Infancias
libres: Tallares y actividades para educación en géneros, written with
Cecilia Merchán in 2018). In addition to these, there
is an edition that references and analyzes the Ni una menos movement (Ni una menos desde
los primeros años: Educación en géneros para infancias más libres
in 2016, written together with Cecilia Merchán).
The
discussion on gender roles cannot disregard the consideration of the concepts
of masculinity and femininity in different cultures. In fact, addressing this
topic means analysing society, putting in order the elements that characterize
a given social reality and those common to several social contexts. Obviously,
by writing on this subject we end up highlighting the prejudices, which belong
to individuals, societies, peoples and traditions, but also the elements of
overcoming the same prejudices. The heroines represented here do not have the
usual characteristics of the "classic" princesses present in the
stories. The beauty is not external, but an inner beauty that breaks every
stereotype giving women an intrinsic and individual value. The moral and
cultural qualities take on the guise of a revisited or rewritten beauty,
adapted to our times, and assign to women a realism based on their historicity
(in addition to Frida Khalo we have Eva Maria Duarte
called Evita, The Mothers of Plaza de Mayo, Alfonsina
Stormi and many other protagonists of the
socio-cultural reality of Latin America). Their being "real" and
"historicized" makes them a real and concrete model of beauty to be
pursued. The readers, through a story mediated by the authors, can choose
autonomously which values to refer to and identify themselves with the
anti-princesses, who are the closest to women, to whom they would ideally like
to resemble. In this sense we can define these picture books as an interactive
production. In fact, the purpose that the authors would like to pursue is to
encourage an emotionally active reading, more and more directed to the
promotion of forms of self-education aimed at emancipation and the birth of
personalities with an open mind to all the possibilities that the world offers.
These authors, in the end, are mostly politically committed intellectuals,
capable of making a reflection aimed at changing society and feel this function
as a mission. This reality is almost completely absent in the Old Continent.
There
is no lack of male counterparts. Just think of the real stories of two
well-known writers such as Eduardo Galeano and Julio
Cortázar published with Collana Antihéroes.
Both Collane intend to modify the stereotypes that
have characterized the figure of princesses and above all princes, who are
considered secondary compared to the figure of the superhero, endowed, instead,
with unusual superpowers (such as that of speech if we take for example the
volume dedicated to Cortázar). This is the reason why the Series speaks of an
anti-hero-super-hero rather than of a prince. The latter, in fact, is
characterized by sensitivity and gentleness and not by superpowers like those
possessed by contemporary superheroes, which attract more the childish
imagination of our time.
It
is in these examples of illustrated books about Argentinean biographies
(written by Nadia Fink and illustrated by Pitu Saá) that the visual equipment becomes an effective tool
and at the same time a reflection of a specific line of thought. It spreads in
the public agora and allows to codify or deconstruct different visions of
reality. Evidently, the hermeneutics of images outlines both the intrinsic
figurative grammar present in them and the interaction, even complex, that is
established between visuality, apparatus, institutions, bodies, and
figurativeness; this allows us to effectively reveal the relationship between
the iconic object and the cultural geography onto which the iconic object is projected.
Now, more than ten picture books have been published in Antiprincesas
followed by a smaller, but still growing, number of Antihéroes.
The
same publishing house has also planned a third series for children called Liga
de antiprincessas aimed at presenting historical
characters. Much attention is paid in Latin America to the genre of illustrated
books and albums, on the difference of gender and not only, as can be seen by
consulting the issues of Revista Latino
americana de Literatura Infantil
y Juvenil (published in Bogotà), as well as the
monthly El Estante infantil
(edited by the Uruguayan writer and illustrator Malí
Guzmán). Noteworthy are the editorial projects interested in authors from the
entire continent promoted by the Fondo de Cultura Económica (directed
by Mexican publisher Daniel Goldin) and by Norma (Colombian publishing
house).
The
literary world of Latin America destined to children's literature, specifically
for gender difference, offers a considerable variety of proposals that can be
understood as an added value and an essential point of reference, truly
original, for a global reflection on the educational function of children's
literature, not only on the theme of gender difference but also on that of
equal opportunities.
3. Conclusion
The reconstruction of socio-cultural
relationships in Latin America's variegated educational set-up has revealed a
still very marked stratification of educational inequalities, especially the gender
gap. This processes of educational stratification according to gender has
been studied both by functionalist-meritocratic authors (from the theory of
human capital to liberal feminism) (Alexander, Eckland
1974; Arnot, David, Weiner 1999), as well as by authors with a conflictual
orientation (from stratification theory, to social reproduction theory, to
other variants of feminism) (Collins, 1971; Bourdieu e Passeron
1972; Holland, Heisenhart 1990), who share the ideal
of equal distribution of educational resources among citizens, regardless of
biological determinants (gender and race) and social origins. Both approaches
assume that education and the institutions in which it is organised (schooling,
vocational training) tend to be positive and promotional with respect to the
social goals envisaged. Human capital theorists, for example, trust in the
ability of education systems to enhance the quality of available intelligence;
reproductive theorists argue that, if it worked properly, education would
contribute to the neutralisation of class effect and biological difference
through the formalisation of universalist principles and the protection of
disadvantaged groups. Although profoundly different in their view of social
relations, these two interpretations therefore share the idea that educational
institutions should be, so to speak, 'neutral' about the gender variable. Anyway,
this exaltation of the principle of equality on the pedagogical level is
accompanied by criteria and practices that favour uniformity over sexual
difference. On the other hand, conflict theorists see relations between men and
women as marked by male domination (Bourdieu, 1998) and consider gender to be
an ascriptive factor, which produces inequality in the structure of access to
resources, favouring male success and systematically undervaluing female
performance. On the other hand, it is the so-called 'gender-focused theories' -
especially radical feminism and socialist feminism, which are also to be found
in the critical conflictual strand - that point the finger at educational
institutions and school curricula, which are seen as inherently masculine. For
radical feminists, moreover, the egalitarian ideal leads to the cancellation of
the original differences between men and women, when in fact they are
irreducible, since they derive from specific biological inheritance. To make up
for the social disadvantage of being female and to regain possession of their
gender identity without negative prejudices, women have to
question current educational methods and practices, which are implicitly sexist
(Holland, Eisenhart 1990), become aware of their own
specificities and structure separate moments of education with differentiated
curricula (Riordan 1990). This "essentialist" conception of gender
relations, which leads to the invocation of separatist strategies in education,
is criticised by other feminists (Davies 1997), because it would merely reverse
the current situation (implicit male superiority) by introducing a new
opposition between genders (superiority of the female way of being). At the end
of the 1970s, the "essentialist" thought of sexual difference (Luce Irigaray and Diotima) or of "cultural feminism"
(with Mary Daly 1978 and Adrienne Rich, 1977, Linda Alcoff
1988) opened new perspectives not only theoretical but also of practices of
"separate" socialisation: practices and policies of development of
the denied difference. A new feminist pedagogy was created. Feminist pedagogy
is here closely intertwined with reflection on difference and its valorisation.
Gender is not simply a derivative
of anatomical or biological sex but a symbolic construction, a representation
or, better, the combined effect of countless visual and discursive
representations that come from different institutional apparatuses of the
State, such as the family, school, law, medicine, etc. [...] so far like the
constructionist sociologists) but also from the very forms of culture
(language, the arts, literature, religion, philosophy, cinema, the media),
[...] precisely [...] technologies of gender" (De Lauretis,
1987, p.37).
According to the underlying
theoretical approach of the paper the reality of genre lies precisely in the
reality effects produced by its representation genre is realised and becomes
concrete reality when representation becomes self-representation, that is, it
is assumed by the subject as a component of his or her own identity. Therefore,
taking up the neologism coined by De Lauretis,
"engender", the subject is ingenerated, that is, produced as a
subject in assuming, adopting, or identifying with the effects of meaning and
the positions specified by the sex/gender system of a given society. In other
words, the subject is produced or engendered to the extent that it is the
result of gender technologies. Educational models must start from the subject -
male and female - and from corporeality as a condition that is embodied in
one’s experience, thus considering educational action as directed towards this
subject. In so doing, true integration can be achieved in all countries of
Latin America. A form of integration stemming from the acknowledgment that the
subjects of education, the subjects of civil society, distance themselves from
and differentiate themselves from the hegemonic discourse and the dominant
cultural formations, including, principally, the ideology of gender, understood
as one of the most significant and conditioning macro-institutions. And the way
in which it is possible to escape this ideology is to move away from a unitary
subject, always the same, endowed with a stable identity, uniquely divided
between masculinity and femininity. Instead, the new subject occupies multiple
positions, detaches itself from belonging and given knowledge, and builds
itself through a continuous and incessant rewriting of itself. Much needs to be
done to assure quality education for all. However, the road to this development
has begun.
In this thought about gender is
rejected the Cartesian idea of the subject as a fixed and self-evident original
datum, to represent it as the product of a continuous and constitutive exchange
with otherness, in the various forms in which it manifests itself. The subject,
from this perspective, intrinsically and constitutively needs the other to
become itself. Therefore, the concept of neutrality in the use of educational
language in school contexts and in the choice of contents is overcome, not to
accentuate the difference between the sexes but to start from that embodied
cognition, in which the dialectic self-other is present. This dialectic
constitutes the subject, as identity idem and ipse, sameness and projectuality of being.
The reflection on gender identities
is the master way of the educational course to be taken in the education of
Latin American countries, in view of achieving the objectives of Education for
All and guarantee the rights to an education of equality and of quality.
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[1] The
Laboratory has been working for more than 25 years with most Latin American
countries on assessments that measure student learning achievement in primary
education. The aim of survey is to detect information on learning achievement
and other educational indicators, related various aspects related to the quality
of education in a comprehensive sense, and to respond to the challenges of the
Education 2030 Agenda. Therefore, the objective of Laboratory is evaluating,
exchanges, tests, improves, innovates, and creates a regional synergy for the
improvement of learning.
[2] Primary
education is compulsory, and this is now extended in many countries to lower
secondary education; on average there are 9.7 years of compulsory education,
but in Argentina and in Chile compulsory education is 13 years, in Mexico and
in Peru it is 12 years. The end of compulsory education varies from age 12 to
18 years. Primary and lower secondary
education, In a little more than half of the countries, last 8-9 years and it
takes place in the same school; in other countries there is greater differentiation
based either on the "5+4 years" model or in Colombia and in Peru 5
years in primary education and 4 years in secondary education.
[3] There is a long tradition of free education in the region in some states: since 1876 in Uruguay, since 1928 in Chile, since 1934 in Colombia, although this country is now an exception in the region, not formally guaranteeing it by law.
[4] Given
the rapid changes brought about by scientific progress and the new forms of
economic and social activity, the emphasis must be on combining a sufficiently
broad general education with the possibility of in-depth work on a selected
number of subjects. Such a general background provides, so to speak, the
passport to lifelong education, in so far as it gives people a taste – but also
lays the foundations – for learning throughout life (Faure Report, 1972,
p. 23)
[5] Learning
to do is another pillar. In addition to learning to do a job of work, it
should, more generally, entail the acquisition of a competence that enables people
to deal with a variety of situations, often unforeseeable, and to work in
teams, a feature to which educational methods do not at present pay enough
attention. In many cases, such competence and skills are more readily acquired
if pupils and students have the opportunity to try out and develop their
abilities by becoming involved in work experience schemes or social work while
they are still in education, whence the increased importance that should be
attached to all methods of alternating study with work (Ibidem).
[6]
Learning to be resumes the UNESCO report of 1972. Its recommendations
are still very relevant, for in the twenty first century everyone will need to
exercise greater independence and judgement combined with a stronger sense of
personal responsibility for the attainment of common goals” (Ibidem).
[7] The
Report also includes regional reports focusing on the education systems of
countries in Latin America, the Caribbean, Central and Eastern Europe, the
Caucasus and Central Asia. Regarding Latin America, it was found that: as concerns pre-primary education, schooling
has reached very high values, overall, over 61%; the transition rate from
primary to secondary is high (94%), well above the value for developing
countries (88%). Pre-primary education generally starts between the ages of 3
and 4, is not compulsory (except in Mexico) and sometimes takes place at the
primary school site. The last pre-school year is compulsory in Argentina,
Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Mexico, Peru, Dominican Republic and
Uruguay. As far as starting school is concerned, in most of the region the
starting age is 6 years, whereas the primary and secondary system lasts 12
years. Yet, there are countries such as Guatemala and El Salvador where one
starts at 7 and countries, such as Colombia, where the education cycle is only
11 years overall.
[8] In
short key findings from GEM 2020: in high-income countries in Europe and North
America, only 18 economically disadvantaged children complete secondary school
for every 100 wealthier students; in rural areas of at least 20 countries,
mostly located in sub-Saharan Africa, hardly any poor young women complete
secondary school; as of 2015, 41% of countries, representing 13% of the world's
population, do not have a public household survey that provides disaggregated
data on key education indicators; data from 14 countries using the Child
Functioning Module suggest that children with disabilities make up 15% of total
early school leavers and are 2.5 times more likely to never attend school than
their peers without disabilities; in middle-income countries, only
three-quarters of pupils still attend school at age 15, despite a 25% increase
over the past 15 years; in 2018, one in three teachers in 43
upper-middle-income and high-income countries reported that they did not adapt
their teaching to the cultural diversity of their students; in 25% of
countries, laws require students with disabilities to study in separate
environments: in 32 countries, schools and classrooms in socio-economically
disadvantaged contexts are more likely to have less qualified teachers; about
40% of low- and lower-middle-income countries did not take any measures to
support students at risk of exclusion during the Covid-19 health crisis; about
25% of teachers in 48 education systems report a high need for professional
development to teach students with special educational needs; only 41 countries
worldwide recognise sign language as an official language; in Europe, 23 out of
49 countries do not explicitly address sexual orientation and gender identity
in their curricula.