Banca de QUALIFICAÇÃO: HELTON CLISTENES SOARES DA COSTA JÚNIOR

Uma banca de QUALIFICAÇÃO de MESTRADO foi cadastrada pelo programa.
STUDENT : HELTON CLISTENES SOARES DA COSTA JÚNIOR
DATE: 28/05/2025
TIME: 10:00
LOCAL: Videoconferência (Google Meet)
TITLE:

Reconnecting the Horror: Junji Ito's oeuvre as expression of complexity

KEY WORDS:

Junji Ito; manga; horror; complexity; humanities.

PAGES: 89
BIG AREA: Ciências Humanas
AREA: Sociologia
SUMMARY:

This dissertation aims to investigate how the horror manga of Japanese author Junji Ito, published in Brazil between 2017 and 2024, can serve as resources for expressing the complexity of the human condition and contribute to the construction of interdisciplinary knowledge in the Humanities. Currently, Ito is one of the most prominent and acclaimed names in the horror comics genre. The bizarre and the grotesque, wrapped in an atmosphere of tension that grows iteratively, along with his distinctive art style — which blurs the boundaries between the real and the surreal — are the author’s trademarks. It is in light of these characteristics, and motivated by the growing visibility that this master of horror’s manga has gained in the Brazilian publishing scene, that this dissertation is situated. Thus, it proposes an analysis of his graphic narratives as devices that challenge the boundaries between art, culture, and the social sciences. This research is primarily grounded in Edgar Morin’s paradigm of complexity (1984; 1999), Noël Carroll’s aesthetic theory of horror (2000), and Julia Kristeva’s concept of abjection (1982), as well as theoretical-methodological tools from comics studies, particularly those developed by Thierry Groensteen (2013; 2015). The study follows a qualitative, in-vivo, and essayistic methodology and is structured into three paths: the first addresses manga as it’s invention, it’s editorial industry, and as a complex cultural phenomenon; the second explores the publication of Ito’s manga in Brazil with attention to its thematic recurrences and expands on the complexity of horror as an artistic genre; and the third presents interdisciplinary theoretical essays linking Ito’s works to knowledge production in the social sciences and the humanities. At the crossroads where these three paths converge, the dissertation argues that Ito’s oeuvre offers critical tools to reflect on the challenges of contemporary life by reconnecting science, art, and imagination.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
Presidente - 1501788 - ALEXSANDRO GALENO ARAUJO DANTAS
Interno - 1012983 - LUCAS FORTUNATO REGO DE MEDEIROS
Externo à Instituição - CIRO INÁCIO MARCONDES - UCB