As representações e construção de esteriótipos de vidas negras na obra "O Sítio do Picapau Amarelo", de Monteiro Lobato

Abstract

This corse conclusion paper intends to identify the representations and the construction of stereotypes of black people shown in the children’s novel “Yellow Woodpecker’s Ranch” written by Monteiro Lobato. As author and editor Monteiro Lobato was responsible for writing, editing, publishing and distributing his works throughout Brazil. The books, published between 1921 and 1947, about the adventures of some children in their grandmother’s ranch, aimed to promote various elements of the Brazilian culture for the young public. His stories were passed by many generations and was adapted into different formats including a television series. The starting point of this research is: how to analyze the Yellow Woodpecker’s Ranch by insights about the racial issues in a way that investigates how the representation and construction of stereotypes of the black population are related to the structural racism in the Brazilian society. In order to answer these questions this research tries to contest the representation of black people, the role that they play in Monteiro Lobato’s children stories, categorize how the oppression towards black people happen in his work and, by that, reflect how deep the structural racism is present in the stories. This paper is based on documented and bibliographic research and it also analyzes the content of four selected stories. As some of the main results we observed that his work has many racist elements that included, for example, the characters refer to one woman as big lip nigger and the narrator comparison a black character to a monkey. The racism present in Monteiro Lobato's work is shown in its structure and by how he represents black characters, using stereotypes of "good negro" and pejorative use of the word "negro/nigger/black", having as well many references to the slave period, and demotion of the black culture in comparison to the European culture — as the black culture is seemed as inferior and the European as superior. Therefore is of extreme importance to assume that the author, his works and declarations are racists and that if this fact is denied the development of a anti racist education is harmed.