Decolonizing Narratives: Teaching Iracema from an Interdisciplinary Perspective

Abstract

This study analyzes the teaching of Iracema from an interdisciplinary and decolonial perspective within the context of High School education, seeking to understand how literature can contribute to students’ critical development and to the appreciation of Indigenous cultures. The research is characterized as qualitative, participatory in nature, and grounded in educational action research. The activities developed included critical reading of the literary work, discussion circles, dramatizations, text production, and debates about colonialism, cultural identity, and Indigenous representations in Brazilian literature. The results show that the use of interdisciplinary pedagogical practices promoted greater student participation, strengthened critical reading skills, and encouraged the questioning of historically rooted Eurocentric discourses present in the school environment. It was also observed that the proposal contributed to the deconstruction of stereotypes related to Indigenous peoples and to the recognition of cultural diversity as an important element in the educational process. Thus, literature teaching, when linked to decolonial and multicultural perspectives, can act as an important instrument of social transformation, human formation, and appreciation of Indigenous epistemologies in schools.