A configuração dos monstros na literatura infantil e juvenil brasileira do século XX

Abstract

Throughout children's literature of the 20th century, monsters were treated as mere decorative elements in the text, powerful enemies, protagonists in stories and even as allies of heroes, among other attributions. This work aims to carry out a survey of the monsters that appear in Brazilian children's and youth literature in the 20th century, in addition to reflecting on the roles defined for them and their importance for understanding the course of literary production in the country. For the work, marvelous creatures that stand out for their physical appearance are considered, including those from national folklore, such as Curupira, Iara and the Werewolf, following Claude Kappler's concept that the monster is a deviation from the norm, a dissimilar. The research addresses monsters from each of the literary periods stipulated by Professor Nelly Novaes Coelho in the book Critical Dictionary of Brazilian Children's and Youth Literature, namely the pre-Lobatian, Lobatian and post-Lobatian periods, with emphasis on some publications that characterize the periods in question. When necessary, the social and political aspects of the publication period are evaluated in order to better understand the monster's participation in certain texts. Elvira Vigna, for example, has already claimed to have created the monster Asdrubal to explain the military dictatorship. Lobato invested in folklore creatures as a way to enhance the national culture. Could the different characterizations of monsters in Brazilian children's literature in the last century be a reflection of the social-political moment? This work aims to answer this and other questions, with the theoretical foundation of great researchers, such as: Umberto Eco, Claude Kappler, Le Goff, Tzvetan Todorov, Gregory Claeys, Bruno Bettelheim, Nelly Novaes Coelho, Marisa Lajolo and Câmara Cascudo, among others.