Children's Literature and British Identity (eBook)

Imagining a People and a Nation

Rebecca Knuth (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2012
222 Seiten
Scarecrow Press (Verlag)
978-0-8108-8517-2 (ISBN)

Infos

Children's Literature and British Identity: Imagining a People and a Nation is the story of the development of English children's literature, focusing on how stories inspire children to adhere to the values of society. Such English authors as Lewis Carroll, J.R.R. Tolkien, and J.K. Rowling have entertained, inspired, confronted social wrongs, and transmitted cultural values—functions previously associated with folklore. Their stories form a new folklore tradition that grounds personal identity, provides social glue, and supports a love of England and English values. This book examines how this tradition came to fruition.

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For more than 250 years, English children's literature has transmitted values to the next generation. The stories convey to children what they should identify with and aspire to, even as notions of ';goodness' change over time. Through reading, children absorb an ethos of Englishness that grounds personal identity and underpins national consciousness. Such authors as Lewis Carroll, J. R. R. Tolkien, and J. K. Rowling have entertained, motivated, confronted social wrongs, and transmitted cultural mores in their worksfunctions previously associated with folklore. Their stories form a new folklore tradition that provides social glue and supports a love of England and English values.In Children's Literature and British Identity: Imagining a People and a Nation, Rebecca Knuth follows the development of the genre, focusing on how stories inspire children to adhere to the morals of society. This book examines how this tradition came to fruition, exploring the works of several authors, including:Robert Baden-PowellRobert BallantyneJ. M. BarrieEnid BlytonAngela BrazilFrances Hodgson BurnettRandolph CaldecottLewis CarrollRoald DahlDaniel DefoeCharles DickensMaria EdgeworthKenneth GrahameKate GreenawayG. A. HentyThomas HughesCharles KingsleyRudyard KiplingC.S. LewisA. A. MilneHannah MoreE. NesbitJohn NewberyGeorge OrwellBeatrix PotterArthur RansomeFrank RichardsJ. K. RowlingAnna SewellRobert Louis StevensonJ. R. R. TolkienP. L. TraversSarah TrimmerCharlotte YongeEvaluating the connection between children's literature and the dissemination and formation of identity, this book will appeal to both general readers and academics who are interested in librarianship, English culture, and children's literature.

Autor

Rebecca Knuth is professor of Library and Information Science at the University of Hawaii. She is an award-winning teacher and has taught children's literature, young-adult literature, and history of the book courses for over 15 years.

Inhalt

PrefaceIntroductionChapter 1: Creating “Good” Children Chapter 2: Socialization: Duty and Self-Sacrifice Chapter 3: Creating Manliness and the Boy Hero Chapter 4: Romanticizing Childhood and England Chapter 5: Being Playful and Emotionally AliveChapter 6: Small Adventures and HappinessChapter 7: Autonomy and AffirmationChapter 8: Into the Story-Pot: Harry and Heroism Chapter 9: A Modern English Folklore Bibliography

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 12.4.2012
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Essays / Feuilleton
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Sprach- / Literaturwissenschaft ► Anglistik / Amerikanistik
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Sprach- / Literaturwissenschaft ► Literaturwissenschaft
• ISBN-10: 0-8108-8517-4 / 0810885174
• ISBN-13: 978-0-8108-8517-2 / 9780810885172