A representação da criança nos contos de Hans Christian Andersen : o desvelar de um paradigma

Abstract

The fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875), coupled to the highlighting of the child character, particularly in narratives in which it features as the protagonist, are the subject matter of current dissertation. Investigation aims at analyzing and describing the representation of the child character in Hans Christian Andersen's tales (Little Ida's Flowers, 1835; The Metal Pig, 1840; Little Match-Girl, 1845; The Red Shoes, 1845; The Angel, 1845); Dance, Dance, Doll of Mine! 1871) through critically interpretive reading. The tales may be found in Anderson's Stories and Fairy Tales: Complete Works, in two volumes, translated into Portuguese and published in Brazil in 1996. Aesthetic, structural and thematic criteria used by the author in the construction of the child character within the chosen corpus are applied so that the manner these presuppositions contribute towards reader formation may be perceived. At the same time, investigations have been made to discover whether the above-mentioned literary works give the reader the possibility of a better understanding of the existential and social world in which s/he is inserted. Current study is of paramount importance owing to the need of an investigation that analyzes the child thematics and its representation in literature, comprising themes that reflect on the world seen through a poetic language, taken to be one of Andersen's features. Methodology involves a methodological, qualitative and descriptive approach since it discusses theoretical references in the theory of literature, reader, children and juvenile literature through an analysis of these presuppositions in the above mentioned tales. Theoretical support, based on the Theory of Aesthetic Effects proposed by the German theoretician Wolfgang Iser, with the author/text/reader paradigm satisfactorily placed, makes the interaction between these factors fundamental. Consequently, Andersen's work is retrieved and updated. Beside Iser's work, other studies by Philippe Ariès, Regina Zilberman, Robert Darnton, Hans Robert Jauss, Marc Soriano, Antonio Candido and others have been included in current research. The approach of the issue involving the construction of the child character and its insertion within the social and family background, coupled to consideration on the reader, on the reception of the literary text, on literature and its contribution in the formation of the critical and reflexive, shall doubtlessly be an asset in theoretical and literary analysis and contribute towards a deeper understanding on the life and works of Hans Christian Andersen.