Irony and humor in contemporary children's narratives

revisiting gender stereotypes

Abstract

This paper aims to analyze irony and humor as ways of questioning the female character representation in contemporary children's narratives Até as Princesas soltam pum, by Ilam Brenam (2008) and A revolta das princesas, by Céline Lamour-Crouchet (2013). These stories are analyzed as examples of children's narratives that redefine the classic ideal of princess and gender stereotypes, questioning them and even mocking them. There is, therefore, a process patriarchal discourse deconstruction and its ideological reduplications of gender roles that must be incorporated by national literature, including children's literature. The colonial discourse, based on phallocentric culture, defined a stereotype of the ideal woman that can and should be questioned by art, as a cultures product. Thus, irony and humor are mobilized as strategies to touch children, but also as narrative tools that can lead children to question the social roles that surround them, awakening their critical sense, subverting situations already known and offering different reading perspectives.