Cartoon and child imaginary of mass media: narratives, myth and media in school mediation

Abstract

This article aims to understand how the media repertoires addressed to children's audiences in the constitution of the child imaginary, through which the language of the cartoon has enjoyed a centrality in the globalized scenario, from the cultural matrices and the myths that populate and outline it. By taking conceptual approaches between mass culture and children's imagery, the analysis aims to provide insights to educate children to / about, with and through the media through a transformative, critical and citizen educational perspective. The methodology used starts from a theoretical and conceptual survey about mass culture (MORIN, 1975; ECO, 1970) and myth (ELIADE, 2016; BARTHES, 1989) and, as it brings elements to understand this relationship, refers, for its once again, the way children's imagery is constituted. Thus, it dialogues with authors of media education (FANTIN, 2006; BUCKINGHAM, 2013) in order to broaden the possibilities of critical reflection and media use in schools, a privileged space for the constitution of children's collectives and, therefore, for cultural mediation. These analyzes indicate that mass culture has an inherent contradiction, with apocalyptic and integrative characteristics simultaneously, which significantly compose and guarantee intelligibility to the culture of childhood in contemporary times. From the reflections on the complex relationship between myth, narrative and children's imagination, the article presents in its conclusion numerous possibilities for the use of cartoons, discussing the possibilities of pedagogical mediation, with a view to the qualification and promotion of a children's reception more critical, diverse, active and participatory.