GOOGLE FIGURES AND THE REPRESENTATIONS OF IMMIGRANT CHILDREN IN TERESINA-PIAUÍ

Abstract

The history of humanity has always been marked by the phenomenon of immigration, surrounded by diverse factors and violence, especially against children who experience double otherness—for being both children and immigrants. |This study, an integral part of the research conducted for the Master's in Communication (PPGCOM-UFPI), proposes to analyze the representations of immigrant children in Teresina, Piauí, especially Venezuelan children, using Google Figures. Public domain Figures depicting immigrant children in Teresina, Piauí, interact with the transmission and construction of meaning, acting as mediators of cultural and social practices. Therefore, we ask: how are immigrant children in Teresina, Piauí, especially Venezuelan children, represented in the Figures circulating on Google Figures? What are the implications for the social construction of immigrant childhood? The research adopts a qualitative approach, using digital tools for Figure selection. The descriptor used was "immigrant children in Teresina, Piauí," resulting in a page with 19 Figures, which we organized into a block and selected as observables for the research. The Figures were described and analyzed based on their iconic function—the Figure shown; indexical function—marks of exclusion, suffering, or resistance; and symbolic function—the construction of narratives and symbols related to the sociocultural context. The results highlight stigmatizing symbolic and iconographic patterns that shape a subject in a situation of social vulnerability, associated with poverty, lack of dignity, and neglect—stereotypical otherness.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.56238/sevened2025.029-065