Símbolos emocionales y culturales del Carnaval que se perpetúan en la relación Comunidad y Escuela.

Abstract

This article analyzes the Barranquilla Carnival as a formative experience in childhood through the use of symbolic cartographies with color codes created by participating children. The main objective is to understand the meaning of the carnival in children's imaginaries and its impact on the construction of cultural identity from a pedagogical, artistic, and sociocultural perspective. A qualitative methodology with an ethnographic approach was used, employing semi-structured interviews, creative workshops, and participatory mapping as core data collection tools.

Key findings highlight the configuration of a collective affective memory in children's drawings, which reveal a symbolic appropriation of festive spaces, the creation of personal narratives, and the incorporation of traditional elements into their imagination. These emotional maps, rich in color, movement, and symbols, demonstrate how children reinterpret the carnival through their everyday

experiences and emotional bonds, producing discourses that strengthen their sense of belonging and connection to the territory. Moreover, the carnival is identified as a space for intergenerational transmission of knowledge, where cultural practices are inherited, adapted, and re-signified from an early age.

This festive experience not only stimulates creativity but also becomes a non-formal educational space that fosters civic formation, identity construction, and social cohesion. Despite its local scope and limited sample drawn from specific neighborhoods in Barranquilla, the study provides a deep and situated reading of the carnival from the perspective of childhood.

This research proposes a new way to interpret the festive space as a pedagogical, symbolic, and emotional territory where children not only participate but also narrate, represent, and collectively recreate their culture. Thus, it contributes to the understanding of the carnival as a complex phenomenon that integrates art, memory, education, and identity.