Os Contos de Fadas e sua Dimensão Política no Programa Conta pra Mim: Uma Leitura Freireana e Discursiva

Abstract

This Master’s thesis investigates how the fairy tales adapted and published by the “Conta pra Mim” Program, of the Ministry of Education, articulate voices and ideologies that may influence the formation of readers, especially regarding the promotion — or limitation — of critical reading practices. Based on the Freirean understanding that reading the word is intrinsically linked to reading the world, the study problematizes the apparent neutrality of these narratives and discusses how discursive, textual, and iconographic choices can reinforce hegemonic values and naturalize power relations. The research is justified by the need to understand how recent educational policies, focused on literacy and family literacy, mobilize adaptations of classic tales and what effects such re-elaborations may produce on children's education and teaching practices. Using a qualitative approach, with a theoretical-critical and descriptive-analytical character, the study is grounded in Discourse Analysis (Orlandi), Argumentative Semantics (Ducrot and Carel), and the Freirean perspective of critical reading, constituting a framework capable of highlighting the polyphonic nature of texts and the mechanisms of meaning construction. The corpus consists of documents and materials available on the “Conta pra Mim” Program website, with an emphasis on the discursive analysis of the tale “Rapunzel.” The results indicate that the adaptations proposed by the Program soften the structural conflicts of the original tale, reinforcing traditional gender representations and symbolic hierarchies. The Tower, a sign historically associated with confinement and oppression, is reframed as a space of care, weakening its critical potential; the Princess, marked by passivity and obedience, has her agency nullified in favor of a narrative of docility; and the Prince, as a figure of action and salvation, reaffirms masculine authority. This symbolic configuration tends to naturalize social roles, contributing to the formation of readers who internalize conservative worldviews aligned with the logic of banking education criticized by Freire. It is concluded that the Program, by promoting sweetened and depoliticized versions of the tales, limits the emancipatory potential of children's literature and reinforces ideologies of conformity. Thus, the study highlights the urgency of teacher training focused on critical reading and the understanding of literature as a space of symbolic dispute, as well as the need for educational practices that reclaim the political character of fairy tales and promote a reading capable of revealing social tensions, contesting meanings, and expanding possibilities for emancipation