Os arcos de Aaron: a representação do personagem gay de The Walking Dead analisada pelo viés do discurso multimodal

Abstract

The research brings forward the TV series “The Walking Dead” - which had its 11th and final season shown in 2022 - as a universe of analysis. By observing the TV series, a media product of great relevance in pop culture, as a speech genre (BAKHTIN, 1997) made up of different languages and semiotic modes - sonourous, imagery, oral verbal , written verbal, colors, sound effects, framing, visual effects -, this research understands the TV series as a multimodal genre. To the analysis of multimodal texts, as a semiotic aspect of Critical Discourse Analysis (FAIRCLOUGH, 2016), the Grammar of Visual Design (KRESS; VAN LEEUWEN, 2001; 2006) emerges, the methodology adopted to analyze the series "The Walking Dead", understanding that by activating one or more languages, a discourse is constituted. The analysis search to understand how the gay character “Aaron” is represented in the unmistakable world (RODRIGUES, 2014) of the series, seeking to answer how the character's narrative arcs are constructed; how him sexuality operates, to give meaning to him story and the overall plot of the series - noting whether there is a citational breakdown of him gender and sex performance; and also, which positions the subject assumes in the discourse of his narrative. In order to understand the form of representation, the final paper is based on the studies of Stuart Hall (2016; 2011) in relation to identity and Michel Foucault (1988; 2014), about sexuality and power. With this, it brings theorists such as Guacira Lopes Louro (2014; 2001), Judith Butler (2018) and Jeffrey Weeks (2018), linking and updating the studies for contemporary times. These theories infer during the analysis, deepening the way the character is represented, as well as the prominence he can receive according to the construction of episodes and seasons, which is theoretically based on Rodrigo Seabra (2016), Jaqueline Cantore and Marcelo Rubens Paiva (2021) and Sonia Rodrigues (2014), authors who study TV series and their aspects as a specific genre. After analyzing the character's trajectory, we understand that Aaron's representation is given by the contexts in which he is placed and thus the meanings are constructed, raising not only the debate in relation to the performance of gender and sexuality, but also highlighting multiple identities in a single character.