BETWEEN WORDS THAT PAINT AND IMAGES THAT WRITE: AN ECOCRITICAL AND INTERSEMIOTIC READING OF O LÓRAX, BY DR. SEUSS

Abstract

This article analyzes the Brazilian version of O Lórax by renowned author Theodor Seuss Geisel, highlighting how the narrator criticizes and reveals the relationship between man and the natural environment. In recent times, due to the increase in environmental disasters and the awareness generated by these events, several compositions on ecological issues have been produced to encourage human reflection on their actions, with O Lórax being one of these works. The analysis is mainly based on this theory, with the theoretical pillar of Greg Garrard (2006). Due to the imagistic and verbal languages ​​present in the work, it is necessary to incorporate the semiotic studies of Santaella and Nöth (2012) and the intersemiotic studies of Plaza (2003) in order to explain how the intersection between verbal and nonverbal languages ​​contributes to the final effect of the literary text, providing a more complex interpretation. The research methodology employed a basic qualitative approach, due to its exploratory objectives and bibliographic procedures, which involve reading and substantiating various articles and books. Through its multiple languages ​​and objective message, the book becomes amenable to analysis from an ecocritical perspective, whose main objective is to reveal the conflicting and disharmonious relationship between humankind and its environment. In short, it offers a reflection on the impact of human actions on nature, represented literarily in the work.