Uma análise sobre a morte em Ponte para Terabítia, de Katherine Paterson

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to analyze how death and the grieving process are conducted in juvenile and children's literature work Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson. Regarding the issue of death, it is still restricted to a taboo subject in contemporary Western society. That said, the idea is that reading texts that address this human drama can enable readers to think about theirown experiences and re-signify them, since such open readings value the symbolic dimension of interpretations and the search for new meanings. The paper is divided into two chapters, presenting, in a first moment, a concise overview of the history of death and the funeral rites in the West, besides the reflection on the mourning process, literature in its humanizing character, a briefoverview of juvenil and children's literature, and the insertion of the issue of death in literary productions for children and teens. In relation to the second andlast chapter, this one is related specifically to the author Katherine Paterson, with the aim of presenting her trajectory, life, works, awards, the motivation for composing the work under study and its résumé, in addition to the analysis that consists in examining how this representation of finitude happens, the stages of grieving experienced by the protagonist, and the considerations that contribute to the process of development and cognition of children and teens. In synthesis,after studies and research, it was verified that reading that includes death and grieving in its discourse provides to young readers a help to overcome a process that is inherent to the human being, besides contributing to a more humanizing view of the person, leading to a social transformation and establishing, consequently, the importance of approaching themes of this magnitude in juvenile and children's literature.