Abstract:
This article analyzes, from the perspective of Pierre Bourdieu’s sociology, the processes involving the editing and distribution of children’s books in the city of Fortaleza, located in the Northeast of Brazil. To this end, it focuses on the practices of agents and institutions that work toward establishing a relatively autonomous editorial space. It chose, as empirical material, Edições Demócrito Rocha and Editora Dummar, companies linked to Grupo de Comunicação O Povo. The hypothesis to be tested is that the uniqueness of a regional space is paradoxically achieved through heteronomy. From this perspective, the state’s role in editorial production is fundamental, from the classification of themes encompassing popular culture, tradition and heritage, to the purchase of books, and public notices intended for the sector. This system identifies the promotion of local culture as a means to ‘assemble the pieces’ of the Brazilian literary nation. The space for children’s book editing in Fortaleza thus constitutes a dependent and peripheral subfield of production within a national space, also dependent and peripheral in relation to transnational linguistic spaces.
Keywords:
book and edition history; children's literary space; autonomy; heteronomy; children's literature in Fortaleza
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