DARWIN IN BRAZIL: SCIENTIFIC DISSEMINATION IN COMICS

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the comic book “Darwin: no Brasil”. The magazine in question is a comic approach that aims to show children and teenagers some ideas about the naturalist and his journey in 19th century Brazil. In the work analyzed, the serious figure takes on a different version of most materials, with a profusion of colors printed on paper with a higher quality than that of comic books. It is not easily found on magazine stands, but rather in physical and virtual bookstores. For the analysis of the magazine, some pages were investigated with the purpose of indicating how the comic artist uses visual resources in combination with verbal language, and how they complement each other, contributing to the propagation of the scientific message. The results indicated the complexity of disseminating scientific knowledge in a compact verbal-visual format. As a strategy to communicate the naturalist's journey to readers, the author created a narrative with a visual and linguistic nature in the comics. The attempt to present scientific questions in comics fulfilled the purpose of conveying part of Darwin's story in Brazil, explored emotions, but did not provoke reflections, possibly given the author's intentions in discussing the issues of slavery and Darwin's view of society Brazilian at the time. However, the reflections presented should not be seen as a rejection of the work “Darwin in Brazil”, but as a precaution for those who make the material available to children and adolescents.