A produção teatral escolar como expressão dos valores culturais na adolescência: um estudo de caso

Abstract

The school environment is a place where culture is revealed by the integration of different values. This study aims at analyzing cultural values that are disclosed in adolescents written productions assigned in drama classes. The study analyzed drama scripts presented by students of a private school in Caxias do Sul. The research method was based on content analysis and its corpus is a set of drama scripts produced throughout an 11-year-period, which address to some cultural aspects that are valued among adolescents. From the study it was possible to come up with cultural themes related to family and friends; regional culture; traces of Italian and local (gaucho) cultures; literature; movies and the past; (worries about) the future and the environment; media and technology. The approach of such topics is defined by the aspects expressed in the adolescents universe, from a regional point of view which is characterized by a mix of socially represented cultures. In order to understand the topics related to adolescents culture, school and drama aspects, it was employed a theoretical support that defines important terminology to the comprehension of such cultural expression represented by literary relations associated to drama, namely culture, identity, imaginary, adolescence and school drama. The theoretical support employed also allowed the understanding of the culture and how values are shown and are articulated within the group, transcribed through the drama scripts. As a result, this study intends to contribute to the understanding of adolescents cultural identity as well as to further studies that involve the investigation of culture and literature in regional and school contexts.