Infância, construções de si e agenciamentos de sem terrinhas mediados pela relação com os desenhos animados

Abstract

The concept of childhood is a social construction and it is related to several social and politic subjects, among them are the academia and, obviously, the children. Different scholars point out that there were, and there are, many changes in the concept of childhood since the access and the presence/participation of children in media public spheres. Our mainly problem emerges from an invisibility of knowledge produced by children, even about what it means to be a child. Thus, the agencies usually are understood as adultification, simple expression of “the disappearance or effacement of childhood”, because it “puts a voice” on the children, instead of talking to them. This dissertation, on the other hand, aims to value children's voice. Hence our central question is: which knowledge, mediated by cartoons, a group of peasant children produce about themselves and about childhood? To answer it, we chose to investigate with a qualitative nature research, guided by intervention-research methodology. We produced our data especially in six workshops, among which we watched Ben-10 and Zica e os Camaleões – “Zica and the Chameleons” –, and the participant observation method. Our corpus is the transcription of the workshops, our notes in our camp diary, some account of our experiences and the artistic productions by children from Recreio Settlement. Furthermore, we adopted interpretative analysis. Based on senses produced by children, we concluded that some molar lines of childhood are happiness, playing and fun; other molecular lines of childhood are the education in settlement, peasant unit and pride fighting; and escape lines of childhood are point out as a close relationship with nature and as an ancestry. There is an approaching to Benjamin with respect to fun and playing. There is an approaching to Zica concerned with education and fight. However, when the children constructed their own cartoons, they created a black character and a cowboy – from northwest of Brazil – who takes care of the cattle. Moreover, children show to enjoy more watching their own episodes, created by themselves or by their peers.