História, memória e ficção: o centenário da imigração japonesa no Brasil celebrado em histórias em quadrinhos

Abstract

This work analyzes two comic books published in Brazil with the purpose of celebrating the centenary of Japanese Immigration in our country. The aim is to show that comic books can make a significant contribution not only to the permanent movement for the formation of readers, but also to the process of citizen’s constitution in the perspective of dialogue between diff erent cultures, in this case Brazilian and Japanese cultures. To do so, it outlines a historical sketch of Japanese immigration
in Brazil, showing, by the point of view of the social sciences, the main moments of this process and the results manifested socially from the encounter of the two cultures. It then shows how comics, until recently regarded as harmful to educational processes, constitute an interesting imaginary language that is made at the frontiers of art, communication and education. With this basis, an analysis of the two selected comics, both published in 2008, was carried out. The fi rst one: “BANZAI!
History of Japanese immigration in Brazil in Manga”, by Francisco Noriuyki Sato and Julio Shimamoto. The second: “FRONT - Special 1 - Centennial of Japanese Immigration”, with the participation of a large group of authors, writers and designers. The analysis is made from the perspective of the cultural history and the language resources of the comic books, evidencing the sequential narratives that were based on historical records, memory and fi ction. It concludes by pointing out that the produced comics are important cultural artifacts that, due to their rich imagery and information, lend themselves as a pedagogical resource to: 1. record and highlight Japanese immigration in the context of the reconstruction of Brazil’s history; 2. to contribute to the process of training citizens to dialogue considering the diversity in the construction of a society with greater capacity to create solidarity and beauty.