The Sands of Time
Children's Literature: Culture, Politics and Identity
Published on 14. December 2009
Book
Paperback/Softback
160 pages
978-1-905313-80-8 (ISBN)
Description
Children's literature has always been produced by radicals and reformers. Critical analysis of their views and methods is a fascinating and increasingly contested new field. Bringing together a range of perspectives from established academics, well-known children's writers and students of children's literature, this collection provides an unusual and challenging read. Whether you are interested in how writers present the lives of working children in nineteenth-century America, how picture books challenge and subvert the political stance of contemporary Australia, or how issues in Kenya or Palestine can become the material of children's fiction, there are plenty of ideas to explore. "The Sands of Time" was the third in a series of conferences at the University of Hertfordshire. Dedicated to the critical exploration and significance of children's literature, the series has so far embraced the perspectives of Marxism ("Owners of the Means of Instruction", 2006) and psychoanalysis ("The Story and the Self", 2007).
This third conference, dedicated to culture, politics and identity, sought to locate children's literature in the changing landscape of politics, and to examine the ways in which writing for children is used to induct, coerce and indoctrinate as well as to educate and inform. Together, these volumes offer a valuable resource to students, teachers and lovers of children's books alike.
This third conference, dedicated to culture, politics and identity, sought to locate children's literature in the changing landscape of politics, and to examine the ways in which writing for children is used to induct, coerce and indoctrinate as well as to educate and inform. Together, these volumes offer a valuable resource to students, teachers and lovers of children's books alike.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Hatfield
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Illustrations
20 illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 210 mm
Width: 148 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-905313-80-8 (9781905313808)
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Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Dr Jenny Plastow teaches on EdD and MA programmes at the University of Hertfordshire and has published articles on primary teaching and literacy, and on Modernist Literature and gender studies. She has worked extensively in practical theatre and Shakespeare, and writes stage and radio plays for children and adults. Margot Hillel, OAM, is Head of the School of Arts and Sciences, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne. She has been President of the Children's Book Council of Australia and President of the Australasian Children's Literature Association for Research. Judge of many literary awards, joint editor of three collections of short stories and joint compiler of a retrospective anthology celebrating fifty years of the Children's Book Council of Australia Book of the Year Awards, she has co-written several books about using literature with children, regularly publishes scholarly articles and reviews children's books in journals and on radio.
Content
1 'One way to get an education': Elizabeth Stuart Phelps and the borders between working and other children in nineteenth-century American children's literature Roxanne Harde 2 Subversion and resistance in the girls' school story Judith Humphrey 3 The possibility of an intercultural children's theatre in Britain Karian Schuitema 4 'Not in charge of the story': the presence of Rapunzel in Charles Dickens' Great Expectations and Margaret Mahy's The Other Side of Silence Mary Clarke 5 Ghosts have a way of rising: writing the past, the present and crossing the fence Beverley Naidoo 6 Welcoming strangers: the politics of 'othering' in Australian picture books Margot Hillel 7 Picture books and their influence on social constructions of disability Karen Argent 8 Children in conflict: the significance of children's literature in relation to war. An interview with Elizabeth Laird Richard MacSween 9 Building a new world: gender and modernism in E. Nesbit's The Magic City Madelyn Travis 10 Now anything goes: changing influences in historical and theoretical perspectives on children's historical fiction through narratives of Robin Hood Chris Clark 11 Torments in the Himalayas: isolation and identity in Maurice Sendak's The Sign on Rosie's Door and Christina Stead's The Man Who Loved Children Philip Stogdon 12 'Knowledge, more than anything else, can overcome oppression': subjectivity and autonomy in the characterisation of Charlotte Armstrong-Barnes and Maggie Dundas in Theresa Breslin's Remembrance Andrea Peterson