Os patos sob controle? A influência do código de ética dos quadrinhos sobre a revista O Pato Donald (1961-1963)

Abstract

This research investigates the reach of a Brazilian media control instrument, the Código de Ética dos Quadrinhos (CEQ) from 1961, which was announced as an effort to protect young readers from alleged dangers present in Brazilian post-war comic productions. The present study focuses on the Donald Duck magazine (evennumbered editions from 478 to 634, published between 1961 and 1963) as its documentary body, delving into the historical context in which the CEQ was produced, the potential business interests embedded in this initiative, and the relationship between this initiative of control by Brazilian publishers and the Comics Code Authority in the USA. The reading of authors such as Lilia Moritz Schwarcz (2019), Thomas Skidmore (1998), Antonio Pedro Tota (2009), Susan-Mary Grant (2014), Roberto Elísio dos Santos (2002), David Harvey (2007), and Gonçalo Junior (2004) facilitated the understanding of the historical context of the CEQ. Concepts such as hegemony, ideology, and mass industry, as proposed by authors like Dênis de Moraes (2016), Marilena Chauí (1982), and Renato Ortiz (1995), among others, also guided this research. Methodologically, a qualitative approach was employed, utilizing content analysis according to Laurence Bardin’s proposal (2016). This involved compiling the corpus and observing specific categories of analysis, measuring the frequency of certain themes or the focus given to gender issues, for example, in the analyzed stories. At the same time, the study sought to verify how concepts such as family, women, and crime were represented after the publication of the CEQ. The aim was to achieve a greater understanding of how the studied works reflected the assertion of security embodied in the creation and implementation of the CEQ by analyzing the impact of this self-regulation of the comic market on the Brazilian selection of the analyzed stories, as measured by their content. Thus, an informed perspective was sought to assess the actual scope of the aforementioned Brazilian code of ethics, revealing that the representations often stemmed from idealizations about the most important categories within the american way of life, without necessarily reflecting the reality of those societies.