A preservação da memória da literatura sobre educação especial (1913/1991): balanço tendencial dos livros dos acervos de bibliotecas universitárias de São Paulo

Abstract

This research aimed to analyze the trends in the technical-scientific literature of special education, expressed exclusively by books preserved in the collections of university libraries of the University of São Paulo and the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo, ranging from the oldest work, published in 1913, until 1991. The choice of the book as the source of data, as well as the delimitation of the period, is justified because this type of publication was more valued in the period before the consolidation of special education as academic, from the 1990s onwards, with its incorporation by graduate programs, which resulted in the appreciation of publications in the form of articles published in specialized journals and in the annals of scientific events. The selection of works was restricted to those dealing with deficiencies in general, to the detriment of works that focused on specific deficiencies, resulting in the selection of 174 works, which were organized and analyzed through two axes of analysis: Axis I - Distribution in time and Axis II - Characterization of the works. This assessment was based on the contributions of Raymond Williams (1969; 1980), with regard to the academic contexts in which the works were produced, and of Pierre Bourdieu (1983, 1994 and 2004), regarding the constitution of special education as field of national and international disputes, throughout the 20th century. The main findings can be summarized as follows: a marked influence of American authors throughout this century, a growing trend of authorship in specific specialties, with emphasis on pedagogy and psychology, and an expressive growth of works by national authors