Os desenhos animados e as infâncias: presença de personagens negros na obra “O irmão do Jorel”

Abstract

This course conclusion work (TCC) aims to analyze the animated series called “Irmão do Jorel” and how the black characters inserted in the narrative present themselves. The cartoon, from the moment of its creation, was based on social entertainment, mainly linked to children. Nowadays this is no different, as they are part of the lives of many children who consume them in the most diverse digital media, presenting a series of content that causes identification and directly influences the construction of children's imagination and perceptions about themselves and about the others, acting on the subjects’ identity construction. Thus, considering the importance of positive representation for black bodies in cartoons, with the intention of breaking stigmas and prejudices perpetuated through the language and characteristics of these characters, often immersed in caricatured representations or always tied to secondary roles, I start with the following question: How are black characters presented in cartoons? To this end, the present work was structured as a qualitative research of a bibliographic and content analysis nature, with the general objective being: Analyze the relationship between cartoons and black childhood. Furthermore, the specific objectives are: Identify the black characters in the work; verify the language used in the cartoon episodes under analysis and point out the importance of schools and educators in the study of ethnic-racial relations. For the development of this TCC, concepts of childhood were worked on from authors such as Ariès (1986), taking childhood as a socio-historical concept. Next, we address black childhoods, through the propositions of authors such as Reis (2024) and Gomes (2010). A brief discussion was also presented about digital media, relating their use in the construction of children's imagination. Further on, a historical construction of the cartoon as a cultural artifact was developed, culminating in the analysis of episodes from the work “Irmão de Jorel”, chosen as the object of analysis of the work. The studies carried out demonstrated that the presence of black characters in animated works is still very superficial and often linked to secondary roles, hindering the development of identification and consequently solidification of children's imagination, returning to the development of a positive black image, raising the need for further studies that can encompass the importance of the need for black representations in drawings and other content included in digital media.