Poetics of Children's Literature - Hardcover

Shavit, Zohar

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0820307904 ISBN 13: 9780820307909

Publisher: University of Georgia Press, 1986

Synopsis

In this study, the author isolates the conventions and moral aims that have structured children's literature, from the fairy tales collected and reworked by Charles Perrault and the Brothers Grimm - in particular, "Little Red Riding Hood" - through the complex manipulations of Lewis Carroll in "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland", to the subversion of the genre's canonical requirements in the chapbooks of the 18th century and in the formulaic Nancy Drew books of our own day. The author explores not only how society has shaped children's literature, but also how society has been reflected in the literary works it produces for its children - how its ideals and prejudices have been set forth, often without disguise, to serve as lessons for future citizens. Children's literature is the only branch of literature that, in our day, still retains the overt purpose of instruction, and that still is required to present to its reader a moral. Exploring the relationship between children's literature and society, this book charts the cultural manipulations that shape writing for children and the literary devices by which authors make room for creativity amid the strictures of a sternly codified literary system.

About this title

Review:

"A landmark piece of scholarship which, through its reconciliation of more traditional and historical models with recent developments in the area of semiotics, initiates a new stage of research in children's literature. . . . [It] will undoubtedly come to be considered a seminal piece of research in this field."--"Canadian Review of Comparative Literature"

"Shavit's book is intelligent and wide in its sweep. Having pointed to the constraints within which writers for children work, it paves the way for an enhanced appreciation of the art with which many meet the challenge."--"South""Atlantic Review"

"The book is illuminating whenever it deals with the broad cultural contexts of children's literature. . . . "Poetics of Children's Literature" demands, and deserves, thoughtful attention and response."--"Dalhousie Review"

Shavit's book is intelligent and wide in its sweep. Having pointed to the constraints within which writers for children work, it paves the way for an enhanced appreciation of the art with which many meet the challenge.--"South Atlantic Review"

The book is illuminating whenever it deals with the broad cultural contexts of children's literature. . . . "Poetics of Children's Literature" demands, and deserves, thoughtful attention and response.--"Dalhousie Review"

A landmark piece of scholarship which, through its reconciliation of more traditional and historical models with recent developments in the area of semiotics, initiates a new stage of research in children's literature. . . . [It] will undoubtedly come to be considered a seminal piece of research in this field.--"Canadian Review of Comparative Literature"

About the Author:

Zohar Shavit is a full professor at the Unit for Culture Research in the School of Culture Research at the Tel-Aviv University. She is the author of ten books, among them: "The Literary Life in Eretz-Israel, 1910-1933," "The Construction of Hebrew Culture in Eretz Israel," "A Past without Shadow," and "German-Jewish Literature for Children and Adolescents."

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Georgia Press
• Publication date: 1986
• ISBN 10: 0820307904
• ISBN 13: 9780820307909
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 232