“You start stupid; you end up a thief”- the imagery about school materialized in generics

Abstract

Discourse; Imagery; School; StudentOur goal here is to analyze a part of the imaginary about school in Brazil. In particular, we intend to investigate a generic formula, “Entra burro; sai ladrão” (You start stupid; you end up a thief), because it is in places like this (which also include slogans, proverbs and maxims) that specific discursive formations on how the collective subject represents the school institution are condensed. We depart from the basic principle that the generic functions as a command which allows the subject, by occupying a definite ideological position, to experience pleasure and fruition. We also aim to establish a relationship between the results obtained in the analysis and the representations that are constructed about school. From a theoretical point of view, we try to describe how memory is updated, both in official discourse and in the popular imagery, thus producing naturalized meanings. One important aspect in studies like this one is that it is about discourses, and thus, about the knowledge of the users of the school system itself.