Letramento nos Andes: um estudo etnográfico acerca da introdução da linguagem escrita nas comunidades indígenas de Coriviri e Machacoya na região do Ayllu Pacajes no altiplano boliviano

Abstract

In conflicting times when topics such as social justice are present in academic discussions, it is necessary to reflect on the studies of Literacy as a situated social practice. Bolivian society, due to its diversity, presents us with today a fertile field for the analysis of social practices crossed by power relations and ideologies (STREET, 1984). This research, based on literacy studies, aims to collaborate with the formation of critical subjects to become agents in a fairer world and to be able to question inequalities, proposing solutions based on justice, ethics and social equality. This is a qualitative research about the process of introduction of writing, which is taking place in Bolivia, more specifically in the indigenous communities of Coriviri and Machacoya in the Ayllu Pacajes region, located in the Bolivian highlands. In order to eradicate illiteracy in Bolivia, many educational projects and policies have emerged in various governments. With the promulgation of the new constitution in December 2007, 36 native languages were made official in the country and the government decreed the obligation of bilingual literacy (Spanish / native language) throughout the country. Called Educational Reform, this political action starts from the premise that the indigenous language of oral tradition, when acquiring writing, becomes as important as the dominant language, and so expressed many indigenous organizations that requested the incorporation of indigenous languages into school sphere and in formal education. Therefore, I tried to analyze how the process of introducing language writing into the communities of Coriviri and Machacoya in the Ayllu Pacajes region is taking place and what would be the importance of the appropriation of writing in Quechua for the community. The methodology adopted was ethnographic research which, according to Bogdan and Taylor (1975), is characterized by being a period of intense social interactions between the researcher, the subjects and the environment (p.30). The collected material was analyzed based on the Content Analysis Technique developed by Bardin (2006). Having as a fundamental technique for data collection participant observation, I used the triangulation process to validate the research. From the elements raised in this study, it can be inferred that the introduction of writing in the communities observed involves, besides questions related to the acquisition of alphabetic writing and literacy, questions of identity and power.