Entre mistérios e enigmas : um estudo sobre o romance policial para jovens na série Os Karas de Pedro Bandeira

Abstract

This study aims at observing how the five books of the series Os karas, A Droga da Obediência (1984), Pântano de Sangue 1987), Anjo da Morte (1988), A Droga do Amor (1994) and Droga de Americana! (1999), by Pedro Bandeira, can contribute to the development of young reader's criticism by leading them to reflection through the themes proposed in each book. Textual schemes and techniques of juvenile detective fiction are taken into consideration in order to reach the young audience and draw their attention. The justification for this research is the reduced number of studies about Brazilian detective narratives for young readers and about the writer Pedro Bandeira. The study is based on Aesthetic Response Theory and Aesthetic of Reception, concepts popularized by Wolfgang Iser and Hans Robert Jauss. These theoreticians prioritize reader's active participation during the reading process and analyzing the effects a literary book can provoke in the reader, which can lead them to expand their horizon of expectations and develop their criticism. In addition to this, theories about detective fiction are also considered, from its creation to its adaptation for Brazilian young audience, which the main theoreticians are Boileau e Narcejac, Medeiros e Albuquerque, Sandra Lúcia Reimão, Tzvetan Todorov and Álvaro Lins. The research shows how Pedro Bandeira's books break reader's expectations and conduct to a reflection about the world and the conflicts that the reader is subjected to. When the reader sees himself reflected on the young protagonists of the series, this reader has the opportunity to feel the tensions, think about the facts, analyze possibilities and reflect about social questions presented in the stories. Thus they can establish relations between the fictional and real world and, as a result, transfer fiction to reality.