MULHERES QUE VOAM: PERMANÊNCIAS E RUPTURAS NA REPRESENTAÇÃO DA BRUXA NALITERATURA INFANTIL BRASILEIRA

Abstract

This thesis deals with the trajectory of the representation of the witch figure in Brazilian children's literature, from the analysis of the traits that reflect, in the character's history, the history of women in society. In order to do so, it presents the way in which gender relations intervene in the process of symbolic representation of the feminine through the witch character in traditional and contemporary children's narratives. This is done through the analysis of the way the image of the witch was projected in the post-Middle Ages social-historical path and how this is reflected in children's literature. Finally, it is verified if there was, in fact, a change of perspective about the construction of the discourse that attributes the negative connotation to the witch, as a female element, in Brazilian children's tales that propose to present "good witches". The selected Brazilian narratives are A bruxinha que foi boa ([1954] 1990), by Maria Clara Machado, Maria Francisca (1958), by Maria Heloísa Penteado, A Bruxinha disturbed ([1982] 2003), by Eva Furnari and Uxa, now fairy ora witch ([1985] 2003), by Sylvia Orthof, these being the main stories about good witches published in Brazil between the 50s and 80s. Later, in the 22nd century, we have good witch stories, published in 2004 and its continuity in The Return of the Good Witch, published in 2007, both by Lya Luft. In addition to these, there are the analyzes in this work, Aisha, uma bruxinha aborrecente (2021), the first book published by Professor Patrícia Prates; Lolla, the little witch: between shoes that rhyme and hats that don't match (2021) by Nelly Narcizo Souza, and Bruxolivia, the good witch (2021), by Santa Catarina writer Nicole Steffens Spohr. The thesis is divided into three sections, the first of which is based on Michel Foucault (1996), Silvia Federici (2017), Georges Bataille (1989), Umberto Eco (2015), Jacques Le Goff (1994), Cornelius Castoriadis (1982) Georges Duby and Michelle Perrot (1991), Stuart Clark (2006), Anne Barstow (1994), Francisco Bethencourt (2004) and Laura Mello e Souza (1986). The second section is based on the theories or research of Robert Darnton (1986), Nelly Novaes Coelho (2000) Angela Carter (2007), Jean Delumeau (2009), Guacira Louro (1997), Michel Foucault (1996, 2000, 2003, 2004), Philippe Ariès (1986), Leonardo Arroyo (1990), Regina Zilberman and Marisa Lajolo (2007), Cíntia Schwantes (2006), Isabelle Anchieta (2021), Elódia Xavier (2002), Mônica Santos (2011) and Peter Hunt ( 2010). In the third and last section we bring the contributions of Silvia Federici (2017, 2019a, 2019b), Flávia Biroli (2018), Ilze Zirbel (2021), Alda Motta (2021), Gilles Lipovetsky (2000), Foucault (1987, 1996), Clarissa Estés (1994) and María Lugones (2019).