Filhos bem criados, estudantes bem formatos: a Arte de Crear Bem os Filhos na Idade da Puericia (1684), uma educação para além do ensino escolar

Abstract

This article aims to carry out an analysis of primary documentation of the work Arte de Crear Bem os Filhos in the Age of Puericia (1684) by Father Alexandre de Gusmão (1629-1724). We intend to bring new reflections about the content of the work, highlighting its prescriptive pedagogical character, characteristic of a children's policy treaty for the Luso-American communities of the late 17th century. Inserting the work in the larger context of a pedagogical literature aimed at childish education with an Erasmian humanist influence, aimed at the children who would become the future students of the Colleges belonging to the order in Portuguese America. Based on the understanding of literature as a system by Antônio Cândido, we analyze the work, author and target audience in an integrated manner. Making use of the methodology of linguistic contextualism, we seek to frame the work as an organic object located in time and the author as a historical agent crossed by influences and motivations.