School book on religious teaching as material culture of the school: Lessons from Holy History (1874-1882)

Abstract

This article highlights the religious teaching book Lições da História Santa as an object of school material culture adopted in primary schools in the province of Maranhão in the period between its two publications (1874 to 1882). The theoretical-methodological assumptions of Cultural History and bibliographic and documentary research are used, approaching the history of the object in its materiality as form, structure, frequency and device in use to verify the representations regarding this school book via documentation, the interests at stake over this artifact, as well as the disputes implicit in its production, indication and circulation. It is verified how religious teaching via school books reflects the moralizing and civilizing intentions of the State and the Catholic Church, serving as a tool to catechize Brazilian society, to guarantee the moral economy of children via pedagogical practices and to discipline bodies and minds in view of its conception, production and consumption.