The Routledge Companion to Children's Literature and Culture

"Focusing on significant and cutting-edge preoccupations within children's literature scholarship, The Routledge Companion to Children's Literature and Culture presents a comprehensive overview of the print, digital, and electronic texts for children aged zero to thirteen as forms of world literature participating in a panoply of identity formations. Offering five distinct sections, this volume will: Familiarize students and beginning scholars with key concepts and main methodological resources guiding contemporary inquiry into children's literature; Describe the major media formats and genres for texts expressly addressing children; Consider the production, distribution, and valuing of children's books from an assortment of historical and contemporary perspectives, highlighting context as a driver of content; Map how children's texts have historically presumed and prescribed certain identities on the part of their readers, sometimes addressing readers who share some part of the author's identity, sometimes seeking to educate the reader about a presumed 'other,' and in recent decades increasingly foregrounding identities once lacking visibility and voice; Explore the historical evolutions and trans-regional contacts and (inter)connections in the long process of the formation of global children's literature, highlighting new issues such as retranslation, transnationalism, transculturality, and new digital formats for considering cultural crossings and renegotiations in the production of children's literature. Methodically presented and contextualized, this volume is an engaging introduction to this expanding and multifaceted field"-- Cover Half Title Series Information Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents List of Figures Notes On Contributors Introduction Works Cited Part I Concepts and Tools 1 Children’s Literature and Theory “Criticism” and “Theory” The Origins of Writing for Children: What Is a Child? Authorship: The J. K. Rowling Phenomenon Knowing Children: Observation, Memory, Psychology, and Neuroscience “Book People” and “Child People”: Representation, Identification, and Empathy Identities: All Children Are Not the Same? Conclusion Notes Works Cited 2 Poetics and Pedagogy The Weight of History Beyond Pedagogy: Comenius’s Contribution to the Poetics of Children’s Literature Guardians and Detractors of (Rational) Education Back to the Future: Pedagogy and Poetics in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries Notes Works Cited 3 Ethics and Historical Perspectives Complications in Studying Children’s Literature From a Historical Perspective Conclusion Notes Works Cited 4 Children’s Literary Geography Introduction: The Where of Children’s Literature Literary Geography Setting and Place Chronotope and Worldbuilding Place and Genre: Moretti’s Ortgebunden Narratives Playworlds Between Space and Place The Production of (Poetic) Space Cartography Maps in Children’s Books Seeing Pictures: Visualizing Geographies Words and Worlds: Descriptive Geographies Real-World Children’s Literary Geographies Works Cited 5 The Monster at the End of This Book: Posthumanism and New Materialism in the Scholarship of Children’s Literature There Is a Monster at the End of This Chapter. Please Do Not Turn the Page Notes Works Cited 6 Digital Humanities and Children’s Literature Collaboration: Playing Together Digital Archives Beyond the Archive, Or Playing With the Archive Conclusion Notes Works Cited 7 Research With Young Readers: Participatory Approaches in Children’s Literature Studies Introduction Children’s Participation, Agency, and Voice Child-Adult Research: Benefits and Challenges Research With and By Children in Children’s Literature Studies Present and Future Orientations Notes Works Cited Part II Media and Genres 8 Picturebooks Introduction: The Picturebook as a Multimodal Art Form Material Qualities of Picturebooks Materiality and Types of Picturebooks Materiality and Interaction The Impact of Materiality On the Picturebook’s Storyline Hybridity and Materiality in Picturebooks Material Challenges of Digital Picturebooks Conclusion: Future Prospects Works Cited 9 Books for Beginners Proto Beginner Books The Mid-Twentieth Century “Reading Wars” Expanding the In-Between in the 1980s and ’90s Beginner Books Mature: The Early Twenty-First Century The Present and Future of Beginner Books: Diversity Works Cited 10 Magazines Defining the Ideal Child Reader American Publications Correspondence Competitions Conclusion Note Works Cited 11 Comics for Children Across Cultures “Comics” ‘And Graphic Novels’ for “Children”: A Defensive Introduction Definitions Most Relative: Definitely Maybes Children’s Comics Across Cultures: Great Britain and the United States Children’s Comics Across Cultures: Canada and Mexico Children’s Comics Across Cultures: Greater South America Children’s Comics Across Cultures: The Japanese Manga Explosion Notes Works Cited 12 Children’s Fiction: The Possibilities of Reality and Imagination Introduction History of Children’s Fiction The Plausible Present: Realistic Fiction The Plausible Past: Historical Fiction The Unreal: Fantasy and Science Fiction, But Especially Fantasy The Unlikely: Action/Adventure, Survival Stories, Mysteries, and Spy Stories Conclusion Works Cited 13 Nonfiction Introduction Definition and Evaluation of Nonfiction Historical Overview The Nonfiction Picturebook Note Works Cited 14 Children’s Poetry Pre-Nineteenth Century Nineteenth Century Nursery Rhymes The Tyranny of Illustrations Schoolroom Poets Nonsense Twentieth Century British Caribbean Poets Urchin Verse/Urchin Poetry Picturebooks Twenty-First Century Notes Works Cited 15 Theatre and Drama: Global Perspectives The Tyranny of the Title in the United States Emancipatory Theatre in North-West Europe The United Kingdom and France Professionalizing Theatre for Young Audiences in Russia Argentina: TV Live and Independent Theatres The Controversial Folk Tale Dramatizations in South Korea Africa: Dramatizing Folk Tales Conclusion Note Works Cited 16 Children’s Film Children’s Film – Impossible to Define? Children’s Film Scholarship Children’s Film and Adaptation Crossover Children’s Film Tropes and Popular Culture Notes Works Cited 17 Television Introduction Television Influence: Early Studies Television, Global Flow, and Global Sesame Glocal Television Conclusion Notes Works Cited 18 Playful Possibilities: The Rights of the Reader in a Digital Age Introduction: Exploring Playful Reading Practices Understanding Playscapes: Looking Through the Kaleidoscope Shaping Storyworlds: Immersion and Embodiment Playing PAW Patrol: Volition and Intra-Action Building Banterbury: Affective Engagements Hunting Hunger Games: Participatory Social Networks Rights of the Reader: Roles and Responsibilities Notes Works Cited Part III Identities 19 Age Concepts of Age Age Norms in Children’s Literature The Pleasures and Need of Defying Age Norms The Complexities of Fighting Ageism: A Case Study Conclusion Notes Works Cited 20 Gender Echoes of Earlier Paradigms Gender Studies: An Array of Parallel Approaches Girlhood Studies Boyhood Studies New Possibilities for Gender Studies Within Children’s Literature Research Notes Works Cited 21 Nation and Citizenship Defining the Concepts Origins and Indicators of the Concepts Cognitive, Behavioral, and Emotional Mechanisms Involved in Nation Building and Citizenship Cultural Mechanisms Involved in Nation Building and Citizenship Children’s Literature as a Key Instrument of Nation Building and Citizenship Case Study Conclusion Notes Works Cited 22 Religion and Children’s Literature Religious Children’s Literature From a Historical Perspective: The Middle Ages and Early Modern Times The Enlightenment Excursus: Bible Stories/Children’s Bibles From the Nineteenth Century Through the Second World War The Present Excursus: Nonfiction Conclusion Notes Works Cited 23 Whatever Common People Do: Social Class in Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century British Children’s Fiction 1800–80: Cheap Print for and About the Poor 1880–1945: The Working Class Writes Back 1945–2000: The “Common People” Speak Leila Berg’s Common Children Robert Westall and Class Nostalgia Aidan Chambers and Robert Leeson: Reading and “Righting” for Working-Class Youth Alan Garner: Articulating the Struggle Between Roots and Education Note Works Cited 24 Race and Ethnicity in Children’s Literature Introduction Race and Ethnicity in the Children’s Literary Tradition In Comes the Corrective: BIPOC Children’s Writers Update the Narrative Conclusion: #WeNeedDiverseBooks Notes Works Cited 25 LGBTQ+ Discourses in Eastern and Central European Children’s Literature The Political Dimensions of Children’s Literature LGBTQ+ Children’s Literature in Russia, Hungary, Ukraine, and Poland Conclusion Notes Works Cited 26 Disability and Children’s Literature Introduction Impairment and Disability Stereotypical Metaphor Disability During the Transitional Period Disability for Its Own Sake Institutionalization of Disabled People Disabled Characters With Voice, Subjectivity, and Agency Conclusion Notes Works Cited Part IV Border Crossings 27 Translation Children’s Literature: Relevant Factors for Its Translation Adaptation in Translation: Rationale and Strategies The Geopolitics of Translation Notes Works Cited 28 Retranslation Defining Retranslation: Its Connection With Children’s Literature Why Retranslate Children’s Books? How to Retranslate Children’s Books Notes Works Cited 29 Adaptation General Theoretical Considerations Adaptations for Children’s Literature Adaptations of Children’s Literature Cultural Function of Adaptations of Children’s Literature Notes Works Cited 30 Fairy Tales and Circulation: A Case Study in Poland The Cultural Circulation of Fairy Tales as Their Essence The Fairy Tale as World Literature Global Versus Local References to Global Trends Entertaining Intertextual Plays and Thought-Provoking Metafiction Deconstruction of Traditional Gender Roles Adapting to Historical, Cultural, Social, and Political Contexts Final Thoughts Notes Works Cited 31 Children’s Literature and Transnationalism Transnationalism and Indigeneity Migrant and Refugee Narratives Transnational Identities Conclusion Works Cited 32 Transcultural Comparison as Method Korean and Hebrew Children’s Poetry in the Early Twentieth Century Introduction: Why Compare? Transculturality in Five Keywords Language Folktales Translation Nation Children Conclusion Notes Works Cited 33 Marketing and Franchising Introduction Intersecting Histories of Children’s Literature and Commercial Cultures Character Branding and Licensing Mass-Market Publishing and Franchising Participatory and Critical Engagement With Children’s Franchise Texts Transmedia Storytelling, Fictional Storyworlds, and Immersive Experiences Social Media, Independent Publishers, and Marketing Works Cited 34 Children’s Literature Websites and Fandom Pedagogies, Literacies, and What Scholars Have Seen in Children’s Literature Websites Children’s Literature Websites and the Canon Patterns in Children’s Literature Websites: Consumption, Hidden Adults, and Offline-Only Engagement Children’s Fandoms And/or Children as Fans Engaging Children and Mediated Connections YouTube Channels, Podcasts, and Social Media Conclusion Notes Works Cited Part V Institutions 35 Book Publishing and the British Sphere of Influence in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries Commercial and Charitable Publishers Circulating Books Internationally International Publishers Adapting British Books British Publishers Defining Global Children’s Literature Notes Works Cited 36 Children’s Book Publishing in Europe A Historical Approach The Medieval and Early Modern Periods The Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries The Golden Age Conclusion Notes Works Cited 37 Contemporary Asian Book Publishing The People’s Republic of China Japan India Conclusion Notes Works Cited 38 From Canon-Making to Participatory Prizing: Children’s Book and Media Awards Cultivating a Public: Mock Prizes Prize Prediction Blogs Edubrow Extension Activities Conclusion Notes Works Cited 39 Children’s Literature in Schools Introduction: Children’s Literature Goes to School Objectives and Assumptions: The Implications of the Literary-Didactic Split The Didactic Approach The Literary Approach In Practice: Functional Vs. Complex Literacy Social and Political Factors Teacher Preference The Classroom as a Democratizing Space Literacy Acquisition The Teacher as Mediator Conclusion Notes Works Cited 40 Libraries The Presence and Absence of a Home Library Public Libraries School Libraries Back Home Again Note Works Cited 41 Book Clubs Introduction The Junior Literary Guild L’Ecole Des Loisirs’ Max Conclusion Notes Works Cited 42 Promoting Children’s Reading Internationally The International Board On Books for Young People The International Youth Library The Biennial of Illustration Bratislava (BIB) The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) The International Research Society for Children’s Literature Further Organizations Book Fairs Awards Conclusion Notes Works Cited 43 Censorship and Shifting Contexts in Children’s Literature History and Motives: Who Censors and Why? Academic Discourse: A Call for Change Public Discourse The Discourse of “Censorship” and Alternative Terms Notes Works Cited Index Focusing on significant and cutting-edge preoccupations within children’s literature scholarship, The Routledge Companion to Children’s Literature and Culture presents a comprehensive overview of print, digital, and electronic texts for children aged zero to thirteen as forms of world literature participating in a panoply of identity formations.Methodically presented and contextualized, this volume is an engaging introduction to this expanding and multifaceted field.Offering five distinct sections, this volume:Familiarizes students and beginning scholars with key concepts and methodological resources guiding contemporary inquiry into children’s literature.Describes the major media formats and genres for texts expressly addressing children.Considers the production, distribution, and valuing of children’s books from an assortment of historical and contemporary perspectives, highlighting context as a driver of content.Maps how children’s texts have historically presumed and prescribed certain identities on the part of their readers, sometimes addressing readers who share some part of the author’s identity, sometimes seeking to educate the reader about a presumed “other,” and in recent decades increasingly foregrounding identities once lacking visibility and voice.Explores the historical evolutions and trans-regional contacts and (inter)connections in the long process of the formation of global children’s literature, highlighting issues such as retranslation, transnationalism, transculturality, and new digital formats for considering cultural crossings and renegotiations in the production of children’s literature. Focusing on significant and cutting-edge preoccupations within children's literature scholarship, The Routledge Companion to Children's Literature and Culture presents a comprehensive overview of print, digital, and electronic texts for children aged zero to thirteen as forms of world literature participating in a panoply of identity formations.Offering five distinct sections, this volume: Familiarizes students and beginning scholars with key concepts and methodological resources guiding contemporary inquiry into children's literature Describes the major media formats and genres for texts expressly addressing children Considers the production, distribution, and valuing of children's books from an assortment of historical and contemporary perspectives, highlighting context as a driver of content Maps how children's texts have historically presumed and prescribed certain identities on the part of their readers, sometimes addressing readers who share some part of the author's identity, sometimes seeking to educate the reader about a presumed “other,” and in recent decades increasingly foregrounding identities once lacking visibility and voice Explores the historical evolutions and trans-regional contacts and (inter)connections in the long process of the formation of global children's literature, highlighting issues such as retranslation, transnationalism, transculturality, and new digital formats for considering cultural crossings and renegotiations in the production of children's literature Methodically presented and contextualized, this volume is an engaging introduction to this expanding and multifaceted field.