Social actors representations in images of spanish language textbooks: a critical look at the racial issues

Abstract

This article displays a critical discursive analysis of race representation in four collections of Spanish language textbooks to elementary schools in Florianópolis/SC: ¡Adelante! (2002); Saludos (2008); Ventana al español (2011); and Contraseña (2015). This analysis encompasses a quantitative survey, in order to verify the frequency to which black, indigenous, asian, and white people are portrayed; as well as qualitative/interpretative appraisal regarding social roles, and how these social actors are depicted (VAN LEEUWEN, 2008) in the books images. The theoretical and analytical framework for the study is the Critical Analysis Discourse (FAIRCLOUGH, 2016; VIEIRA & RESENDE, 2016 and MELO, 2009), discourse and race references (VAN DIJK, 2008; FERREIRA, 2019; ENEVAN & JOVINO, 2019; and others), and decolonization (RESENDE, 2019 and VIEIRA, 2019). Briefly, the results showed that, with time, the frequency in which some races appear subtly increases; while others are predominantly inconspicuous. There is also an increment in the variety of social roles applied to some races, although many of such representations reinforce or reproduce stereotypes; signaling a few advances but also many challenges to overcome in order to achieve a truly antiracist education.