THE ETHNIC SCHOOL IN THE CITY OF SÃO PAULO AND THE FIRST TONES OF AN ITALIAN IDENTITY (1887-1912)

Abstract The purpose of this article is to understand the organization of Italian ethnic schools established in the city of São Paulo as spaces for the constitution of a national identity, an Italianity. For the construction of the text were used, documentary analysis of sources, such as statutes, norms and programs for the operation of Italian schools; documents of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Italy; Yearbooks of Italian schools abroad; legal orders; newspapers, books, among others. The temporal limits refer to the period marked, on the one hand, by the creation of schools, and another by the production of normative documentation. The ethnicity category was used as a pillar of support for the analysis undertaken.