Lu Alckmin’s children’s book is self-help for children – 03/23/2024 – Era Outra Vez

It is still curious that Lu Alckmin’s new children’s book, “ABC dos Coelhinhos”, is published by the publisher Senac-DF precisely in the middle of the storm and accusations of censorship against the Sesc literature area.

For those who haven’t been following, the controversy began at the end of last year. During Flip, the International Literary Festival of Paraty, writer Airton Souza, one of the winners of the 2023 Sesc Literature Prize, read excerpts from his award-winning book, “Outono de Carne Estranha”, in which he narrates a gay passion between miners of Serra Pelada.

It was enough to displease the top brass at Sesc, present at the event. After that, the author was not invited to go on the traditional launch tour. At the beginning of this year, the writer Henrique Rodrigues was fired — he worked in the institution’s literature area and was one of the creators of the award in 2003. This meant that accusations of censorship only increased, with suspicions that Sesc would start to filter the themes of the winning books in this year’s competition.

As a result, Record decided to break its partnership with the organization and will no longer publish the winners, which had been the case for 20 years. The new notice was released on Thursday, the 21st. If until 2023 the works entered should be “intended for an adult audience”, in this year’s competition there is a change — the texts must now be for “all audiences”. The exchange raised the censorship alert even more. Because, instead of Record, the publisher Senac Rio will be responsible for launching the winners.

As Sesc and Senac are administered by the same institution, the CNC, an acronym for the National Confederation of Commerce in Goods, Services and Tourism, in practice everything is now controlled by the same organization, from selection to publication.

It is precisely the publisher Senac-DF that launches “ABC dos Coelhinhos”, by Lu Alckmin, second lady and wife of the vice-president, Geraldo Alckmin. In it, the author writes and illustrates a kind of alphabet of good behavior for children.

In the letter D, for example, we discover that “fun is playing, then storing and caring”. In F, for “faith”, we learn that “no matter the religion, there are always reasons to be grateful”. The moralizing voice is excavated even in the less obvious letters, as in the entry for the letter K: “kiwi, watermelon, banana, orange, papaya… a healthy diet is the first step to maintaining good health”.

The person who explains the intentions of the book is the writer herself. In the preface, she says that she decided to “make drawings that show children that positive attitudes lead us to happiness.” In the afterword, she adds that “each letter of our alphabet has educational content” and that the objective is to improve our actions as human beings.

But is this really the role of literature?

Perhaps many readers, editors, booksellers, critics, influencers and other agents of this fauna will even say yes. After all, apparently there is a growing number of people looking for “positive attitudes” or “educational content that improves our actions” in books — not only in children’s literature, historically seen as mere educational and pedagogical support, but also among adults, which helps explain recent successes, such as healing fiction.

But it never hurts to remember that literature is art, whether for adults or children. It’s aesthetics. It plays in the field of ambiguities, disobedience, disorder, language. I don’t know, for example, that the main concern when visiting a museum is finding “positive attitudes” in an exhibition. Much less at a show. Why then is it different with books?

I will quote Antonio Prata here. “After all, art does not exist to make anyone feel good. That’s why Frontal, Hopi Hari and motivational speeches exist. As Chekhov said, the artist’s role is to ask questions, not find answers”, he recently wrote in this newspaper (read here).

The same goes for children. And here I quote Marina Colasanti. “Children’s literature is always understood as a sandwich or a capsule that carries knowledge or moral principles within it,” she said. “This poisons literature. The great works for this public are great because they escape this.”

The problem is that the poison kills. And more and more. Dozens of books are being recalled, censored and silenced simply because, in the opinion of judges of good morals, they do not bring “positive attitudes” — a concept that, let’s face it, is relative and easily manipulated.

That’s the point of books like “ABC of the Bunnies.” It’s okay to avoid risk, target “all audiences”, be a sandwich of moral principles, a collection of motivational speeches, an example of self-help for children. Literature is a right and anyone who wants to read it can read it. It’s just not possible to transform this into a model, doctrine, public notice parameter, classroom reference or, as Chimamanda Adichie would say, a unique story.

Because the work may even want to teach how to brush your teeth, respect your elders, share toys, recycle trash, pray properly. But it doesn’t do something fundamental. It does not teach you to ask questions, it does not create imbalances or interfere with sensitivity. That’s what art does. That’s why they try to ban it.

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