Children’s Literature: Western World & Oral Narrative

Posted on Oct 9, 2024 in Arts and Humanities

Theme 2: Children’s Literature in the Western World

1. The Classics

Adventure Novels:

Common denominator: action, discovery, and personal growth through the protagonists’ experiences. Various scenarios.

1. Travel Novels
  • Daniel Defoe: “Robinson Crusoe”: A restless couple shipwrecks on a deserted island and establishes a system of organization similar to the origin of civilization. Directed towards the bourgeoisie.
  • Robert Louis Stevenson: “Treasure Island” (model of seafaring and pirate tales) and “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” (supernatural horror literature).
  • Jules Verne (scientific vision and how life would be in the future): “Five Weeks in a Balloon”, “Journey to the Center of the Earth”, “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea”, and “Michel Strogoff”.
  • Emilio Salgari: “Sandokan the Revolutionary” and “The Tiger of Malaysia”.
  • James Fenimore Cooper (started Western novels with the romantic style of the American Ideal Man): “The Last of the Mohicans” and “The Leatherstocking Tales”.
2. Anticipation Novels
  • H.G. Wells: “The Time Machine”, “The Island of Dr. Moreau”, and “The War of the Worlds”.
3. War Novels
  • “The Diary of a Young Girl” (Anne Frank).
4. Historical Novels
  • Walter Scott: “Ivanhoe”.
  • Alexandre Dumas: “The Three Musketeers” and “The Count of Monte Cristo”.
5. Fantasy Novels

(Combine adventure with magical or fantastic elements that come from mythological tradition)

  • J.R.R. Tolkien: “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings” (Celtic mythology and Arthurian literature).
6. Social Novels

(Changes in society from the agricultural to the industrial revolution. Forerunners of 20th-century critical realism)

  • Charles Dickens: “David Copperfield” and “Oliver Twist”.
  • Rudyard Kipling: “The Jungle Book” (new eco-friendly trend, nature as the home of the character Tarzan, a precursor).

Daily Life Stories (8-12 years):

Narratives of small adventures and experiences. Child readers seek identification with the protagonist.

  • Mark Twain: “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” and “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”.
  • Elena Fortún: “Celia” (started as a supplement to the magazine Black and White. Series of books later).
  • René Goscinny: “Le Petit Nicolas”.
  • Erich Kästner (books about spies and detectives): “Emil and the Detectives”.

Modern Tales (6-12 years)

Away from traditional imagery (fairy tales) and introduce elements based on fantasy, dreams, humor, absurdity. Creating a world between fairy tales and realistic stories.

  • Lewis Carroll: “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” (a great book that critiques English society of the time. Includes a calligram).
  • Carlo Collodi: “The Adventures of Pinocchio” (weekly comics in booklet form).
  • J.M. Barrie: “Peter Pan and Wendy” (a parable of children’s rights to live their childhood, rooted in Scottish folk tradition).
  • L. Frank Baum: “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” (includes the legacy of fairy tales and gives a new orientation towards modernity).

Picture Books:

Genre specific to 20th-century children

  • Heinrich Hoffmann: “Struwwelpeter” (written and illustrated book for children, small stories in verse that explain that comics spoil children and the consequences of their actions).
  • Beatrix Potter: “The Tale of Peter Rabbit” (recreates everyday human life in a sweet and sensitive way, but with animal characters).
  • Jean de Brunhoff: “The Story of Babar” (after the author’s untimely death, his son Laurent continued it; Babar is a character that achieves a satisfactory and harmonious society for all).

Comics:

  • Hergé: “The Adventures of Tintin”.

2. Literature Based on Folklore

  • Charles Perrault: At the end of the 17th century, he published two collections that are part of what is known today as “Tales of Mother Goose”. They are 12 stories that have come from various sources and oral tradition as a basis. E.g.: “Ricky of the Tuft”, “Little Red Riding Hood”, “Bluebeard”…
  • Brothers Grimm: Initiators of Romanticism. They researched among the women of their county. “Children’s and Household Tales”. E.g.: “Hansel and Gretel”, “The Pied Piper of Hamelin”, “Cinderella”…
  • Hans Christian Andersen: Fascinated by the beauty of traditional tales heard in his childhood. His works were: tales of oral origin (which he rewrote), popular themes with new stories; and his own creations with romantic aesthetics, e.g.: “The Steadfast Tin Soldier”, “The Little Match Girl”…

3. The Current Trend

Factors that have prompted a wide variety of children’s literature:

  • Social transformation: (the generalization of basic education for all; regulation of the age at which working life began and the prohibition of child labor; new forms of citizen life; administration provides libraries available to the population).
  • New research: (changes in the transmission of knowledge, coeducation without separation of sexes, play as an element of child development and learning).
  • New pedagogical and ideological currents: (the child’s right to leisure, education, and creative pluralism).
  • More and more books with illustrations: and an increasing number of children’s literature authors.

Realism

Tell a story that could have happened.

  • Idealistic Realism: They do not present an excessively troubled world, where small problems are solved by goodwill, dialogue, and cooperation. They respect norms and values (solidarity, autonomy, social responsibility…).
  • Critical Realism: Bringing the child closer to the social problems around him, bluntly, the only way to change reality is to know it and be aware of it (alcoholic father, single mothers, sex…).

Fantasy

  • Revitalization of folk tales.
  • Bruno Bettelheim: Belief in the need for the message of hope.
  • Fantasy inspired by the tradition of Norse mythology, books of chivalry, and the Gothic novel.
  • Michael Ende: “Momo” (an allegory of the absurdity of life) and “The Neverending Story”.

Fantastic Realism

  • Gianni Rodari believes in the concept of the grammar of fantasy where children invent stories from their knowledge.
  • Roald Dahl: “Matilda”, was accused of giving a negative image of adults and school.
  • Astrid Lindgren: “Pippi Longstocking”, for the character who chooses freedom.

Picture Books

  • Role of illustrations, figures, animals, or objects, classic titles….
  • Realistic Picture Books (0-6): To give the child a knowledge of reality. Themes centered on the interests of preschool children.
  • Picture Books of Daily Life: Common conflicts among children (nighttime fears, bedwetting, food waste…).
  • Picture Books about Illnesses.
  • Fantastic Picture Books: Versions and adaptations of traditional folk tales.

Theme 5: Oral Narrative

Story Selection

Prior Considerations:

  • Level of experience of the narrator.
  • Addressing a single listener or a group.
  • Place, time, literary background of each receiver, their language….

3-5 years:

  • Simple and clear plot, without parallel actions.
  • Few and well-defined characters.
  • Humanized animal characters.
  • Repetitive structures.
  • Short stories with rhymes or songs to repeat.
  • Examples: “Patufet”, “The Little Ant Was Going to Jerusalem”, “The Three Little Pigs”…

5-7 years

(World of fairy tales)

  • More complex structures.
  • Wider and more varied gallery of characters (human, animal with well-defined roles…).
  • More complicated plots, but without parallel actions.
  • Burlesque stories, jokes…
  • Examples: “Thumbelina”, “The Bremen Town Musicians”, “Cinderella”, “Puss in Boots”, “King Midas”….

7-9 years:

  • Fairy tales with more elaborate, monstrous, and complicated plots and arguments.
  • Multiple characters.
  • More than one action, which may lie in a parallel plot.
  • Burlesque or ironic elements in the characters.
  • Attractive legends.
  • Examples: “The Love for Three Oranges”, “The Castle of Never-Never-Land”, “Beauty and the Beast”, “The Goose Girl”, “Aladdin”….

From 9 years old

  • Tales, stories, and fables that can be from other cultures and help them to know and respect them.
  • Appealing and unusual arguments, little predictable.
  • Exotic or unusual scenarios.
  • Complex or clever patterns.
  • Contents that reveal little morals.
  • Humorous, scary elements…
  • Examples: Mythical tales and legends from around the world.

Narrative Techniques

  • Be clear about how to start (opening and closing formulas).

The Voice:

The instrument that shapes the story.

  • Intonation: Voice inflections when speaking. It can express joy, fear, surprise, question…
  • Timbre: Characteristic sound of a musical instrument or human voice. To characterize the different characters of the story (giant: deep voice, old woman: high-pitched voice).
  • Rhythm: It is given by the speed with which we speak and the duration of the sentences.
  • Pause: We pause throughout the story. Used to mark the key points of the story, give input to the various characters, create excitement or intrigue, relax, focus attention, etc.
  • Volume: Degree of intensity in the emission of the voice. High to indicate surprise, frighten, shout, warn, order, express anger, etc. Low indicates intimacy, emotion, danger…

Choosing the Story

(Apart from taking into account age):

  • The storyteller must like the story.
  • Traditional structure (easier to remember).
  • Have some plot.
  • Clear storyline.

What adaptations will be made?

  • Adapted lexicon.
  • Shorten or lengthen parts.
  • Introduce possible repetitions, onomatopoeia, small rhymes….
  • Do not learn by heart.

Moment of Narration:

  • Do not begin until the conditions are favorable (silence, lights, comfort).
  • Do not break the thread of the story with explanations or questions.
  • Go back if we make a mistake or skip something.
  • Do not represent it as a play.
  • Performance setting standards.
  • Request audience participation.

“Special Moment”

  • Atmosphere: A special way to decorate the stage.
  • Costume items: For the narrator and listeners, which can be generic (for any story) or specific (for specific stories).
  • Use of puppets (finger, hand, string…).
  • Use of objects (that accompany the story, call attention; they should be suggestive, not familiar objects that cause surprise).

Activities from the Story

  • Theatrical performance.
  • Video recording or photographic sequencing.
  • Redo the story with illustrations.
  • Create an album-compilation that refers to stories worked on in class.
  • Create plastic elements of the story.
  • Create games based on one or more stories.
  • Create new stories in groups, deciding between them all: What are the characters like? (physical and moral qualities). What are the places they inhabit like? What could have happened? What if…?