Between Primers and Catechisms: the alphabet in the service of the empire (1502-1798)

This article examines how the imposition of the Latin alphabet related to Portuguese imperial expansion between the 16th and 18th centuries. It analyzes the pre-textual elements of selected primers and catechisms from the period, linking them to contemporary legislation and to the educational, linguistic, and cultural historiography on the topic. The study concludes that teaching and learning the alphabet-understood as the “first letters” in the strict sense-relied on two pedagogical compendia, primers and catechisms, which correspond to three phases of Portuguese imperial expansion: (1) the use of Portuguese in Africa and Asia (1502-1563); (2) the colonization of Indigenous and African languages (1563-1757); and (3) the “civilization” of Indigenous peoples (1757-1798).

Keywords:
literacy; primers; catechisms; colonization