For the most part childrens literature is goal directed and amongst its targets is the assimilation of sociocultural values. International companion encyclopedia of childrens literature. The genre encompasses a wide range of works, including acknowledged classics of world literature, picture books and easytoread stories written exclusively for. Applying critical theories to children s literature.
Childrens literature is an expanding field of study, involving criticism, education, and psychology. Children are very impressionable during the formative years, and childrens literature can help them develop into caring, intelligent, and friendly people. While her study of nigerian novels creates space for my study of american childrens books, hers is a single study on a different set of research questions. Psychoanalytic theory was developed by sigmund freud to explain the workings of the human mind.
Childrens classics through the lenses of literary theory. Issues in childrens literature criticism oxford scholarship. Many selfproclaimed bookcentred critics of childrens fiction retain as their guiding star the real child, based on their reliance on a distinct literary discourse determined by adult readers and critics, whom they select. Students in this course will read several classics in childrens literature. This is by no means an easy feat, as the variety of childrens literature is vast and focusing on certain types within the field of childrens literature always leaves one open to the neglect. Childrens literature and critical theory 4 department the distinctive character of literature written for young people requires a careful and. Literature is a powerful vehicle for helping children understand their homes, communities and the world. The open frontier in critical studies cindy lou daniels e ver since the enormous publication success of j. A read is counted each time someone views a publication summary such as the title, abstract, and list of authors, clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the fulltext. This generated a small industry of toys, games, pyjamas and so forth mackey 1995.
Exploring the role of childrens literature in the 21st. Theory may not solve any of these problems directly, but it forces us to confront them. Children are provided with information about the relationship between beliefs, desires, and behavior. Those two principles are wellrooted in the selfimage of children s literature cf. Applying critical theories to childrens literature. Through this informed dialogue, nodelman develops a comprehensive theory of children s literature, exploring its commonalities and shared themes. Thus, as long as the concept of didactic children s literature was prevalent, the first principle, which is rooted in the notion of children s literature as a tool for education, was dominant. In practice, mimetic critical theory often asks how well the literary work conveys universal truths and teaches the reader positive moral values and modes of personal conduct. The progression of research on children s responses to literature can be traced from notions about the construction of the reader to descriptions of the intersection of reader and text worlds and, more recently, to a focus on the wider social and cultural context of reading children s literature. Each chapter begins with a highly prescriptive artsbased activity intended to support those. Children s literature promotes the development of students internal imaginations. For this reason, the authors of this study believe that childrens literature. Childrens literature is operated and distributed on the basis of faith, whereby if there is a place for effective links between literature and society, then it will naturally be found first in childrens literature.
Childrens literature as an important tool for education of. This author excludes all other writing and pictures that children may read and specifies that a distinction should be made between literature read by children and literature produced for children. Pdf the regular and fairly widespread teaching of childrens literature in the university has a relatively short history, something in the order of. Introduction to the world of childrens literature higher education. Predominantly, this means literature about social work systems and practice though in reality, of course, effective child. Santora, adl staff article originally appeared in our children, december 2005january 2006.
While virtually all high school students read and respond to literature. Young adult ya literature has seen a rise in its appreciation by those who, in the past, might not have given ya literature a second glance. Deconstructing the hero offers analytical readings of some of the most widely read adventure stories such as treasure island, the james bond stories and star wars. Often emphasizes what is important, repetition is a common element of traditional tales, folk tales, and fairy tales as well as for literary purposes by repeating words, phrases, situations, and patterns. Literary theory and schools of criticism introduction. Pdf psychoanalytic theories in children literature. The genre encompasses a wide range of works, including acknowledged classics of world literature, picture books and easytoread stories written exclusively for children, and fairy tales, lullabies, fables, folk songs, and other primarily orally transmitted materials. Literary theory and schools of criticism introduction a very basic way of thinking about literary theory is that these ideas act as different lenses critics use to view and talk about art, literature, and even culture. The genre encompasses a wide range of works, including acknowledged classics of world literature, picture books and easytoread stories written exclusively for children. She teaches extensively on the ma in children s literature and is an associate director of the centre for international research in childhood. Childrens literature becomes the place where they can offer insight, discuss, interrogate, and talk back to the social problems they often live and struggle to make sense of in and outside of classrooms.
According to freuds psychosexual theory, child development occurs in a series of stages focused on different pleasure areas of the body. Karin lesnikoberstein is a lecturer in english, american and children s literature at the university of reading. This book argues that children s literature has an important role in the development of critical theory, especially in the areas of reader response and the effect of the imagined readership on the writing of the text itself. During each stage, the child encounters conflicts that play a significant role in the course of development. A basic definition might state that it is books written for this particular audience. Childrens literature must, therefore, address both the child they hope to educate, and the adult who will choose which books to give to the child. Orientalism, colonialism, and children s literature by perry nodelman child psychology and children s literature can be discussed and. Psychoanalysis, trauma theory, and the childrens literature of atrocity kenneth kidd bio since the early 1990s, childrens books about trauma, especially the traumas of the holocaust, have proliferated, as well as scholarly treatments of those books. Childrens literature as an important tool for education. The course includes various authors and illustrators in such genres as the oral tradition, fantasy, realistic and historical fiction, poetry, and the picture book. Theorizing visual representation in childrens literature. While research has shown that children who imitate the. No text better prepares you for evaluating, choosing, and sharing quality childrens literature than through the eyes of a child.
Contributors to this section present a theoretical perspective on the relation between reader and text, an account of ethnographic studies of children s books in the classroom, and suggestions for a theory of children s literature that would include not only what is known about literature but what is known about children and learning to read. Children are very impressionable during the formative years, and children s literature. Children s literature is an expanding field of study, involving criticism, education, and psychology. Childrens literature promotes the development of students internal imaginations. Theresa rogers is associate professor of education at the ohio state university. This chapter illustrates how reading has been made to play various roles in theories of interpretative activity. These different lenses allow critics to consider works of art based on certain assumptions within that school of theory. Scope childrens literature is defined as material written and produced for the. Theories of the developmental stage of literary response applebee, 124 are. Childrens literature, the body of written works and accompanying illustrations produced in order to entertain or instruct young people. The most accessible approach yet to children s literature and narrative theory,telling children s storiesis a comprehensive collection of neverbeforepublished essays by an international slate of scholars that offers a broad yet indepth assessment of narrative strategies unique to children s literature. Children s literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are made for children.
Contributors to this section present a theoretical perspective on the relation between reader and text, an account of ethnographic studies of children s books in the classroom, and suggestions for a theory of children s literature that would include not only what is known about literature but what is known about children. This is to mean that all that children read cannot be said to be part of childrens literature. The role of childrens literature in the teaching of english. Not simplistic or choppy or flat without flow and intrigue. Modern children s literature is classified in two different ways. From another angle, critical theory and childrens literature have an interesting relationshipfor childrens literature is an ideal testing ground. Some academics consider young adult literature to be included under the rubric of children s literature. Theories about language development the earliest theory about language development assumed that children acquire language through imitation. Children are very impressionable during the formative years, and children s literature can help them develop into caring, intelligent, and friendly people.
Courses in childrens literature hollins university. Childrens literature is of value because it fosters personality and social development. Mimetic theory of literary criticism pen and the pad. Translation of childrens literature as a function of its. The book describes how adventure stories are influential in shaping children s perception and establishing values. This study, designed as a systematic conceptual analysis, attempts to take account of significant efforts within the angloamerican tradition to raise theoretical issues relevant to the criticism of childrens literature. Orientalism, colonialism, and childrens literature by perry nodelman child psychology and childrens literature can be discussed and analyzed as the corporate institution for dealing with childhooc. The value of childrens literature oneota reading journal. The mimetic theory of literary criticism places primary importance on how well a literary work imitates life.
Freud proposed one of the bestknown grand theories of child development. Gangi balances the philosophical underpinnings of her perspectives on literature and the arts with practical directives to aspiring and practicing teachers. Early childhood development theories families are key to supporting healthy developmental outcomes and creating trusting partnerships with caregivers. A narrative theory approach essay by cat mansfield introduction while questions of faithfulness. In his introduction for teaching childrens literature, u. Project muse narrative theory and childrens literature.
Children s literature, the body of written works and accompanying illustrations produced in order to entertain or instruct young people. Exposure to children s literature, then, may provide children with experience that fosters the development of theory of mind because it provides a context in which mental states are discussed. They found that student response preferences ranged from more personal to more descriptive, interpretive, and. Narrative theory and childrens literature johns hopkins university. Introduction theory of mind tom, the ability to impute mental states to the self and others and make reasoned decisions based on this information, is a cognitive skill usually found in typical children. Christine wilkie lectures in english and is the director of the ma programme in childrens literature studies at the university of warwick, teaching courses on literary theory, twentieth century childrens literature and womens writing. Although childrens literature is ostensibly for children, it is written by adults, and is usually marketed to and bought by adults, rather than children rose 2.
This streamlined eighth edition continues to provide a visually stunning, theoretically sound, comprehensive overview of childrens literature. A look at some outstanding illustrated books for children, childrens literature association quarterly, 1984, 91, 1921. Library of congress collections policy statements collections policy statement index. Danielsa, lee shumowb adepartment of psychology and child development. Theory into practice summer 1999 expanding the worlds of children s literature meaning making but also on the rich interaction or transactions between readers and literary texts. Gangi balances the philosophical underpinnings of her perspectives on literature and the arts with practical directives to aspiring and practicing. Some academics consider young adult literature to be included under the rubric of childrens literature. Forty years after their first appear ance as books, the bbc produced. Forty years after their first appear ance as books, the bbc produced animations of these stories. Nearly every school of theoretical thought has been applied to children. The manner in which an individual reads a text or views illustrations is shaped by mul tiple factors. Childrens classics through the lenses of literary theory adam georgandis bellaire high school introduction literary theory is largely absent from high school english courses. The hidden adult is a focused and sophisticated analysis of childrens literature and a major contribution to the theory. For sharing her time, her expertise in childrens literature and her loving guidance as my research took shape, i am forever grateful.
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