Do sertão ao jogo de interpretação de papéis: redescobrindo auto da compadecida por meio do lúdico

Abstract

This research investigates the potential of role-playing games (RPGs) as a playful educational resource to foster students' interest in literary reading, theoretically grounded in Huizinga, Caillois, Kishimoto, Luckesi, Fortuna, Sales and Zimerman for understanding games in education, in Zagal and Deterding for RPG and game design studies, in Candido and Jouve for literature and reading experience approaches, and in Bardin for content analysis methodology. The study is conducted through qualitative research and pedagogical intervention with fifteen students from the 4th year of the Technical Course in Internet Computing, integrated with High School, at IFES – Colatina campus. Participants are organized into two groups: the Mandacaru Group, composed of ten students who actively participate in the collaborative creation of a tabletop RPG based on Auto da Compadecida, by Ariano Suassuna, and the Cangaço Group, formed by five students who conduct the playtest of the developed prototype. The process is structured in seven stages: project presentation and participant consent, introductory RPG workshop, dramatized reading of the literary work, experimentation with game mechanics, collaborative prototype development, playtest application with feedback collection, and final adaptations based on participant suggestions. The methodology combines action research elements with specific educational field practices, using participant observation, conversation circles and Google Forms questionnaires for data collection. As an intervention proposal, a Technical-Technological Product called "Mandacaru & Cangaço" is developed, a tabletop RPG game that proposes a playful and collaborative approach to encourage literary reading through role-playing, narrative conflict resolution, and collective meaning-making. Results indicate that the playful experience provides greater student engagement with the literary work, stimulates interest in reading and promotes deeper understanding of characters, themes and contexts of Suassuna's narrative. The research contributes to the field of literary education by demonstrating how the integration between games and literature can make the teaching-learning process more meaningful and enjoyable, respecting the playful nature of games without over-instrumentalizing them.