Da fábula à ficção científica: como Lúcia Machado de Almeida deu notícias do mundo na literatura infantojuvenil

Abstract

Over the course of more than fifty years of literary production, mainly aimed at children and adolescents, the writer from Minas Gerais Lúcia Machado de Almeida (1910-2005) released works of fable and science fiction, and others. Some of these works include references to world events and scientific knowledge in fictional narratives. The investigation into these aspects culminated in this dissertation, which used documentary research and bibliographical research. The bibliographical research analyzed the books No fundo do mar (1943), Mistério do polo (1943), Na região dos peixes fosforescentes (1945), Xisto no espaço (1963; 1967), Estórias do fundo do mar (1972), Xisto e o Saca-Rolha (published in 1974; later Xisto e o pássaro cósmico, in 1982), Spharion (1979), O falcão de penas salpicadas (1986) and O asteróide (1995), by Lúcia Machado de Almeida. There was also a contribution from theoretical works on children’s and youth literature, fable, science fiction, fiction, science, reader/reading, 20th century history, literary archives and epistolography. The research also analyzed the critical fortune of the author, which is currently scarce. In the documentary research, the main investigation took place in the Lúcia Machado de Almeida Collection, followed by that of the poet Laís Corrêa de Araújo, both in the Acervo dos Escritores Mineiros da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais. At the end of the research, contextual motivations were identified for Lúcia Machado de Almeida’s literary production, in particular the Second World War and the space race caused by the Cold War, with science represented in beneficial and harmful aspects. Other reasons also justify the interest in scientific knowledge and the writer’s interest in using it in her works for children and adolescents, including: respect for the intelligence of children and adolescents; the journalistic profession and proximity to the news; historical moment of advanced scientific development; presence of scientists in the family; personal interest; and the aesthetic contribution of science. The aim of this dissertation is to enrich the critical fortune on the writer Lúcia Machado de Almeida, to understand the dynamics of her literary production in the face of historical events related to her and her surroundings, as well as contributing to a better understanding of the literature that reached children and adolescents throughout the 20th century, given that Lúcia Machado de Almeida was a best-selling author and had a nation reach.