La présence du grotesque dans Les misérables (1862), de Victor Hugo et Oliver Twist (1838), de Charles Dickens

• Grant number: 25/03697-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Master's degree
• Start date: September 01, 2025
• End date: January 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Linguistics, Literature and Arts - Literature - Comparative Literature
• Principal Investigator: Daniela Mantarro Callipo
• Grantee: Mariele Brollo Cavalcante
• Supervisor: Myriam Roman Bravard
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências e Letras (FCL-ASSIS). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Assis. Assis , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Université Charles de Gaulle - Lille 3, France
• Associated to the scholarship: 23/16241-9 - The Presence of the Grotesque in Les Miserables (1862), by Victor Hugo and Oliver Twist (1838), by Charles Dickens, BP.MS

Abstract

Victor Hugo was an enthusiast of the grotesque as aesthetic category in the nineteenth century. He used it in several novels already studied by dozens of researchers, but, in this research, we turn the look to The Miserables (1862), especially in the choices of the Hugolian narrator, who uses the grotesque in his descriptions, particularly in the parts where we find descriptions of characters, such as Mr. and Mrs. Thénardier, Gavroche and Fantine. Similarly, the narrator of Dickens also makes grotesque choices in his story. In Oliver Twist (1838), we can actually see with our eyes the run-down houses described by the narrator and also the characters, especially the villains, such as Fagin, Oliver's tutor, and Mr. Sikes. Our theory is that the grotesque, in nineteenth-century novels, works as a magnifying glass that highlights the social ills and the condition of the most needy, while the narrators play the role of denouncing the problems of their time. We would like to carry out a research with Professor Myriam, specialist in Victor Hugo and comparatist of the University of Lille, to enrich the research and have access to various materials from French libraries. The professor has a broad view on Hugolian romance and has connections with professors at the University of Lille who may contribute to research regarding Dickens' novel, as expressed by her in her welcoming letter.