Otherness in Portuguese Children's Literature in the New Millennium

Abstract

The social changes of recent decades have led to philosophical, ethical and cultural debates on the question of the Other. In fact, these changes have implications beyond the reflection on difference and otherness. In this context, the study of the representation of the Other in literature is an important research field since the literary production conveys a certain view of society, a system of values and symbols that serve as a framework for the formation of the identity, to integrate the individual in the group and his socialperformance.This article presents, from a historiographical perspective, the evolution of the young adult literature in Portugal and the PhD research project we are developing. This project aims not only to analyse the realistic novel for teenagers written by Portuguese authors but also to verify the representations of otherness existent in these literary productions. In addition to presenting the main methodological lines that guide our research, this paper exposes some preliminary conclusions that emerge from previous studies.