THE POLITICAL FUNCTION OF LITERATURE IN DECOLONIAL EDUCATION

Abstract

This article examines the political function of literature within the context of decolonial education, based on the understanding that literary teaching, historically guided by Eurocentric frameworks, has contributed to the reproduction of the coloniality of knowledge and the invisibilization of plural epistemologies. The aim of the study is to analyze how literature can function as an instrument of critical awareness, identity affirmation, and social transformation in the educational sphere. Methodologically, this is a bibliographic study with a qualitative approach, exploratory character, and guided by the deductive method, developed through the analysis of academic works available in Google Scholar and SciELO databases, predominantly published between 2020 and 2026, while also considering classical authors. The results show that literature, when mobilized from a decolonial perspective, transcends its aesthetic dimension and assumes a central role in problematizing the canon, valuing marginalized knowledge, promoting interculturality, and fostering processes of (re)existence. Furthermore, the study highlights the relevance of children’s literature in the initial formation of subjects and the decisive role of teacher education in implementing critical and inclusive pedagogical practices. It is concluded that literature constitutes a strategic field for the consolidation of an education committed to social justice, epistemological diversity, and the emancipation of subjects, requiring a reconfiguration of the theoretical and practical foundations of literary teaching.