Via Atlântica

Proposal

Because it is an object of high artistic complexity, "children's and young adult literature, as a work of art, implies the involvement of several interdisciplinary fields" (Abdala Jr., 2014, p. 13). It is understood, from the outset, that a quality work of art—whether or not conceived with children and young people as its primary audience—is anchored not only in the sphere of aesthetics but also in the sphere of ethics, engendering, through language—which is invariably traversed by discourses not exempt from the influence of social, historical, cultural, and political orders—and through resources from different languages, an object composed of human experiences that promotes dialogical relationships anchored in fictional discourse. At this point, we refer to the idea of ​​Helena Carvalhão Buescu (1998, p. 25), that a text is never "self-generated": it always originates from a socially, culturally, and historically inscribed being and is directed towards another, carrying with it, in a more or less explicit way, remnants of its own worldviews, which may or may not resonate with readers inscribed in other systems.

Children's and young adult literature—which extends to the general notion of Literature as Art—profoundly affects the dissemination of cultural values ​​that energize a society or a civilization. Benjamin Abdala Jr. (2012) endorses this position and is symptomatic in suggesting that it is necessary to "assume more active and proactive attitudes to create or design, with stronger nuance," trends that encompass the notion of becoming encapsulated in youth (childhood as a "society in chrysalis," as proposed by Florestan Fernandes), pointing to the need for a children's and youth literature that is both "playful and lucid," engaged in the gestation of new paradigms, which are engendered and spread with much greater reach in this literary genre.

From a comparative perspective that considers the contributions of different fields of knowledge in order to underpin deeper reflections on childhood and youth experiences in literary art, “the dialogue begins in the work and returns to it, after a long chain of associations with other knowledge and, in this journey, the plurality of the reader is built, either because they seek other texts for this dialogue, or because they learn the importance of the dialogue itself” (Gregorin Filho, 2014, p. 259).

Maria dos Prazeres Mendes (1994) states that it is necessary, first of all, to understand the nature of “good literature (without adjectives), re-proposing aesthetic quality as a given of enjoyment”, since “to aspire to the child is, in the end, to desire the enjoyment of a mind that considers creativity and imagination as designs of Art, which we end up losing throughout our Cartesian learning”. Ultimately, it is about recognizing that literature intended for children requires "the transit between the sensible, the intelligible, the imaginative and action" for the development of criticality and new awareness, as Maria Zilda da Cunha (2009, p. 19) argues.

In this sense, this dossier of the Via Atlântica journal invites the submission of works that highlight the aesthetic, ethical and political complexity of literature for children and young people in contemporary times, placing children's and young adult books in a perspective that emphasizes both the dialogue and transits with other areas of knowledge (literary theory, pedagogy, sociology, philosophy, history, design) and its insertion in the broader and more comparative context of literary and artistic practices produced in Portuguese-speaking countries.

Suggested thematic axes:

1. Figurations of the child character in contemporary illustrated books;
2. Interart dialogues in contemporary children's and young adult books;
3. Social issues and divisive themes in contemporary children's and young adult literature;
4. Authorship and representation of women, Black people, Indigenous people, LGBTQIAPN+ individuals, and dissident bodies in contemporary children's and young adult literature;
5. Children's and young adult literature in the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries;
6. Contemporary children's and young adult literature and new media formats.

Organized by

Diana Navas (Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo, Brazil); Francisco Camêlo (University of São Paulo, Brazil); Lígia Regina Máximo Cavalari Menna (Mackenzie Presbyterian University, Brazil); Paulo César Ribeiro Filho (University of São Paulo, Brazil).

References

ABDALA JR, Benjamin. (Org.). Estudos Comparados: Teoria, Crítica e Metodologia. Cotia–SP: Ateliê Editorial, 2014.

BUESCU, Helena Carvalhão. Em busca do autor perdido: histórias, concepções, teorias. Lisboa: Edições Cosmos, 1998.

CUNHA, Maria Zilda da. Na tessitura dos signos contemporâneos: Novos olhares para a Literatura Infantil e Juvenil. São Paulo: Humanitas/Paulinas, 2009.

FERNANDES, Florestan. Folclore de mudança social na cidade de São Paulo. Petrópolis: Vozes, 1979.

GREGORIN FILHO, José Nicolau. “Sobre a necessidade de um olhar comparatista para a literatura infantil/juvenil”. In: ABDALLA JR., Benjamin (Org.). Estudos Comparados: Teoria, Crítica e Metodologia. Cotia–SP: Ateliê Editorial, 2014

MENDES, Maria dos Prazeres. Monteiro Lobato, Clarice Lispector, Lygia Bojunga Nunes: o estético em diálogo na literatura infanto-juvenil. Tese (Doutorado em Comunicação e Semiótica) — PUC, São Paulo, 1994.

• Starting submissions: December 1, 2025.
• Submission deadline: May 30, 2026.
• Expected publication date: October 2027

SECTION "OTHER TEXTS"

Via Atlântica invites specific researchers to publish articles and essays not linked to the dossier's theme in this section. The “Other Texts” section features manuscripts on a continuous flow basis.

• PROCEDURE FOR SUBMITTING TEXTS

All manuscripts must be submitted using the journal's OJS platform. Authors must register as journal users and thus submit their manuscripts. Manuscripts that have not been submitted through the indicated platform and that do not comply with the presentation guidelines will be disregarded.

• PRESENTATION GUIDELINES AND EDITORIAL POLICY

All information regarding guidelines, text formatting, evaluation, and other issues related to the submission process are in the Submissions section of the journal's website.

• CONTACT viaatlantica@usp.br