As diferentes facetas da homofobia na história em quadrinhos Heartstopper

Abstract

The comic book Heartstopper Vol. 1 (2016) was written and illustrated by British author Alice May Oseman, and it is a world-famous comic book on online platforms, with 123 million views on the Tapas platform and 452 million views on WebToon app. Heartstopper Vol. 1 narrates the daily life and romantic journey of Charlie Spring and Nick Nelson and how they face a lot of difficulties such as bullying and homophobia. According to Borrillo (2010), homophobia is a complex phenomenon that has multiple facets, and it can be studied by the scientific community. However, there is a dearth of studies on the phenomenon of homophobia in Heartstopper Vol. 1 despite the theme running through the narrative. Therefore, this research aimed to identify and analyze the different facets of homophobia in the sequential art elements of Heartstopper Vol. 1 (2016) using Borrillo (2010) definitions of homophobia and sequential art concepts. Four types of homophobia were identified in the work (cognitive, general, specific and irrational) in three moments of the narrative, among which it is worth mentioning: the affection between Charlie and Nick, the presence of Charlie and the conversations between the members of the rugby team . It was noted that homophobic acts negatively affected the well-being and social relationships between the characters involved.