The Presence of the Past in Children's Literature

(Hardback)

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Description

Time is one of the most prominent themes in the relatively young genre of children's literature, for the young, like adults, want to know about the past. This book explores how children's writers have treated the theme and concept of time. The volume starts with the application of literary theory and additionally analyzes examples of the juvenile historical novel. In doing so, it also examines changing fashions in criticism and publishing and the pressure they exert on writers. It then considers literary adaptations of myths and archetypes, constructions of history in children's literature, colonial and postcolonial children's fiction, and the treatment of the past in the postmodern era. The book looks at literature from around the world, and the expert contributors are from diverse countries and backgrounds. While the book looks primarily at literature of the 19th and 20th centuries, it considers a broad range of historical material treated in works from that period. Included are discussions of such topics as Joan of Arc in children's literature, the legacy of Robinson Crusoe, colonial and postcolonial children's literature, the Holocaust, and the supernatural. International in scope, the volume examines history and collective memory in Portuguese children's fiction, Australian history in picture books, Norwegian children's literature, and literary treatments of the great Irish famine.

Reviews

[A] wide-ranging offering of essays that spans the centuries and the Western world....There's certainly more than enough in here for everyone.-Children's Literature Association Quarterly
[B]rings together in a helpful way different perspectives on the representation of history in children's literature ...-Children's Books History Society Newsletter
Expert contributors from around the world have have provided solid research for librarians and educators....important for academic libraries.-Library Media Connection
The book includes many surprises. In her examination of children's books about the Irish potato famine, Celia Keenan points out that historically most Irish immigrated to England, not America. Penny Brown informs the reader that Joan of Arc, despite her historical role as savior of France, "became a hero for all reasons embraced ... by English and French alike." Recommended. Academic libraries serving upper-division undergraduates and above.-Choice
"A wide-ranging offering of essays that spans the centuries and the Western world....There's certainly more than enough in here for everyone."-Children's Literature Association Quarterly
"Brings together in a helpful way different perspectives on the representation of history in children's literature ..."-Children's Books History Society Newsletter
"[A] wide-ranging offering of essays that spans the centuries and the Western world....There's certainly more than enough in here for everyone."-Children's Literature Association Quarterly
"[B]rings together in a helpful way different perspectives on the representation of history in children's literature ..."-Children's Books History Society Newsletter
"Expert contributors from around the world have have provided solid research for librarians and educators....important for academic libraries."-Library Media Connection
"The book includes many surprises. In her examination of children's books about the Irish potato famine, Celia Keenan points out that historically most Irish immigrated to England, not America. Penny Brown informs the reader that Joan of Arc, despite her historical role as savior of France, "became a hero for all reasons embraced ... by English and French alike." Recommended. Academic libraries serving upper-division undergraduates and above."-Choice

Author Bio

ANN LAWSON LUCAS is Senior Lecturer in Italian at the University of Hull.