Children’s Literature: Concepts, Gender, Values, Culture, Violence

Posted on Nov 18, 2024 in Language

Theme 1: Children’s Literature Concepts

1. Defining Children’s Literature

Children’s literature encompasses artistic works (stories, poems, songs, comics) designed for children, focusing on their interests and needs. It differs from language arts and standard textbooks.

Role in Culture:

  • Transmits traditional culture.
  • Instills values, attitudes, and behaviors.

2. Literature vs. Pedagogy

Early literature (Perrault, Grimm) wasn’t solely for children. 19th-century works blended literature and pedagogy, often with didactic and moralistic elements.

  • Schools use literature for educational purposes.
  • Critical analysis focuses on literary values and psychological adaptation.

3. Children’s Literature and the Child

Features:

  • Interdisciplinary: Connects with other arts (song, dance, film).
  • Skill Development: Enhances artistic sensibility, comprehension, and speaking.
  • Individual Reading: Requires discipline and effort.
  • Linguistic Reflection: Encourages understanding and enjoyment of language.
  • Multiple Languages: Explores standard and poetic language.
  • Experience Reflection: Connects writer and reader.

4. Gender in Children’s Literature

Genres:

  • Epic: Narrative stories.
  • Lyric: Poetry.
  • Dramatic: Theater.

Prose stories, novels, biographies, travel accounts, and legends are also significant.

5. Characteristics of Children’s Literature

  • Folklore and Imaginary: Focus on wonder and imagination, blending fiction with past stereotypes and future possibilities.
  • The Wonderful: Unexplained events, defying logic.
  • The Fantastic: Unusual fiction, often involving supernatural elements.
  • The Gothic: Linked to authors like Frankenstein, Poe.
  • Magic: Supernatural effects, offering hope and maturity.
  • Science Fiction: Futuristic themes, often with good vs. evil.
  • Humor: Communication through jokes, absurdity, and wordplay.

Topic 2: Gender Stereotypes

1. Introduction

Children’s literature should be analyzed to avoid perpetuating stereotypes and clichés.

2. Analysis Guidelines (Adela Turin)

Folktales often reinforce stereotypes: passive female characters, marriage as the ultimate goal, beauty as a defining trait, and female submission.

  • Female characters are often less developed and passive.
  • Male characters have more varied roles.

3. Identifying Sexist Material

  • Who stars? Often, men are central, women are secondary.
  • Number of male vs. female characters.
  • Importance and prestige of characters.
  • Housework assigned solely to women?
  • Paid work outside the home assigned solely to men?
  • Are women portrayed as sex objects?
  • Are sports, science, and adventure male-dominated?
  • Are courage, decision-making, and ambition exclusive to men?
  • Are fear, emotions, and caregiving exclusive to women?
  • Is marriage the female character’s ultimate goal?
  • Is activity assigned to males, passivity to females?
  • Are pastel colors used only for female characters?
  • Is emphasis placed on female characters’ physical appearance?
  • Illustrations: Do they reinforce stereotypes?

4. Addressing Sexist Material

  • Balance classroom libraries with diverse materials.
  • Challenge stereotypes (e.g., active female characters, men cooking).

5. Using Sexist Materials

  • Rewrite sexist stories with changed endings and roles.
  • Discuss stereotypes with students.

Item 3: Values and Pedagogical Stories

1. Values

Values are initially absorbed without criticism, especially from family and school. Teachers should challenge societal values like competitiveness and materialism.

2. Tales

Stories enhance emotional and language development, stimulate imagination, and reinforce habits. They should promote critical thinking and positive values.

3. Tales of Values

  • Difference: “Having Friends is Fun,” “The Ugly Duckling,” “Seven Blind Mice.”
  • Joy: “The Thread of Life.”
  • Altruism: “The Goose That Lays the Golden Eggs,” “The Grasshopper and the Ant.”
  • Self-Esteem: “Lolo, a Different Rabbit,” “The Old Tree.”
  • Death: “The Angel of My Grandfather,” “Goodnight Grandpa.”

4. Values in Charles Perrault

Perrault’s tales depict good vs. evil, with good ultimately triumphing through intelligence and cunning. Example: “Little Red Riding Hood” helps manage fear.

Values:

  • Personal: Confidence, generosity, critical thinking.
  • Family: Cooperation, responsibility, discipline.
  • Social: Solidarity, respect, social participation.

Item 4: Cultural Heterogeneity and Multiculturalism

1. Social Value: Multiculturalism

Multiculturalism promotes positive social attitudes towards diverse cultures. Objectives include informing children about different lifestyles and philosophies.

2. Complex Terms

  • Multiculturalism: Coexistence of different cultures.
  • Multiculturality: Acceptance of multiculturalism.
  • Interculturalism: Interaction and dialogue between cultures.

3. Teaching Resources

  • Works showcasing cultural diversity as a resource.
  • Works promoting awareness of different interpretations.
  • Works addressing multiculturalism-related conflicts.

4. Multiculturalism from Literature

  1. Multicultural society requires cultural education.
  2. Multiculturalism is enriching and should be promoted.
  3. Language and aesthetics play a key role.

5. Approaches to Multicultural Literature

  • Indirectly: Stories about other countries.
  • Directly: Original texts from different cultures.

Topic 5: The Discourse of Violence

Bettelheim’s “Psychoanalysis of Fairy Tales” addresses violence in folktales. Violence in stories allows children to externalize their own violent content.

Folktales: Tools for working with violence.

Cruel Tales: Should be presented with critical analysis, not censored.

Therapeutic Means: Folktales help children resolve conflicts.

Examples: “Hansel and Gretel,” “Tom Thumb,” “Bluebeard.”

Theme of Violence: Cannibalism, cruelty, and morbid themes.