ebook img

Radical Children's Literature: Future Visions and Aesthetic Transformations in Juvenile Fiction PDF

228 Pages·2007·1.12 MB·English
Save to my drive
Quick download
Download
Most books are stored in the elastic cloud where traffic is expensive. For this reason, we have a limit on daily download.

Preview Radical Children's Literature: Future Visions and Aesthetic Transformations in Juvenile Fiction

Radical Children’s Literature Future Visions and Aesthetic Transformations in Juvenile Fiction Kimberley Reynolds 1403_985618_01_preiv.qxd 20-2-07 09:17 PM Page i Radical Children’s Literature 1403_985618_01_preiv.qxd 20-2-07 09:17 PM Page ii Also by Kimberley Reynolds GIRLS ONLY? Gender and Popular Juvenile Fiction in Britain 1880–1910 VICTORIAN HEROINES: Readings and Representations of Women in Nineteenth-Century Literature and Art (with Nicola Humble) CHILDREN'S LITERATURE IN THE 1890s AND 1990s CHILDREN'S BOOK PUBLISHING IN BRITAIN SINCE 1945 (with Nicholas Tucker) REPRESENTATIONS OF CHILDHOOD DEATH (with Gillian Avery) FRIGHTENING FICTION (with Geraldine Brennan and Kevin McCarron) CHILDREN'S LITERATURE AND CHILDHOOD IN PERFORMANCE CHILDHOOD REMEMBERED MODERN CHILDREN'S LITERATURE: An Introduction 1403_985618_01_preiv.qxd 20-2-07 09:17 PM Page iii Radical Children’s Literature Future Visions and Aesthetic Transformations in Juvenile Fiction Kimberley Reynolds 1403_985618_01_preiv.qxd 20-2-07 09:17 PM Page iv © Kimberley Reynolds 2007 All rights reserved.No reproduction,copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced,copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright,Designs and Patents Act 1988,or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency,90 Tottenham Court Road,London W1T 4LP. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published in 2007 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Houndmills,Basingstoke,Hampshire RG21 6XS and 175 Fifth Avenue,New York,N.Y.10010 Companies and representatives throughout the world. PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St.Martin’s Press,LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan® is a registered trademark in the United States,United Kingdom and other countries.Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN-13:978–1–4039–8561–3 ISBN-10:1–4039–8561–8 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources.Logging,pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Reynolds,Kimberley. Radical children’s literature :future visions and aesthetic transformations in juvenile fiction / Kimberley Reynolds. p.cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13:978–1–4039–8561–3 (cloth) ISBN-10:1–4039–8561–8 (cloth) 1.Children’s literature–Political aspects.2.Children’s literature–Social aspects.I.Title. PN 1009.5.P64R49 2007 809(cid:1).93358––dc22 2006052965 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 Printed and bound in Great Britain by Antony Rowe Ltd,Chippenham and Eastbourne 1403_985618_02_prevxii.qxd 15-2-07 05:53 PM Page v For Peter This page intentionally left blank 1403_985618_02_prevxii.qxd 15-2-07 05:53 PM Page vii Contents List of Illustrations viii Acknowledgements ix Author’s Note xi 1 Breaking Bounds: The Transformative Energy of Children’s Literature 1 2 Breaking the Frame: Picturebooks, Modernism, and New Media 24 3 And None of It Was Nonsense 45 4 Useful Idiots: Interactions Between Youth Culture and Children’s Literature 68 5 Self-harm, Silence, and Survival: Despair and Trauma in Children’s Literature 88 6 Baby, You’re the Best: Sex and Sexuality in Contemporary Juvenile Fiction 114 7 Frightening Fiction: The Transformative Power of Fear 131 8 Back to the Future? New Forms and Formats in Juvenile Fiction 155 Conclusion: The Foundations of Future Fictions 180 Notes 184 Bibliography 193 Index 208 vii 1403_985618_02_prevxii.qxd 15-2-07 05:53 PM Page viii List of Illustrations 2.1 From Sara Fanelli’s Dear Diary. Illustration © 2000 Sara Fanelli. Reproduced by permission of Walker Books Ltd, London SE11 5HJ. 40 5.1 The final double-page illustration from Serge Kozlov and de Vitaly Statzynsky’s Petit-Âne. Reproduced by kind permission of Vitaly Statzynsky. 94 5.2 Final image from Michael Rosen’s Sad Bookby Michael Rosen, illustrated by Quentin Blake. Illustration © 2004 Quentin Blake. Reproduced by permission of Walker Books Ltd, London SE11 5HJ. 98 5.3 ‘Nobody Understands’ (detail) from Shaun Tan’s The Red Tree. A Lothian book, an imprint of Hachette Livre Australia Pty Ltd, Melbourne, 2001. Reproduced by kind permission of Shaun Tan and Hachette Livre Australia. 100 viii 1403_985618_02_prevxii.qxd 15-2-07 05:53 PM Page ix Acknowledgements I owe a great deal to Peter Hunt and Nicholas Tucker, who both kindly read drafts of this book as it emerged and gave wise advice, strategic feedback and encouragement as needed. The book is much richer for their contributions; any errors are mine alone. My husband, Peter Reynolds, also read the manu- script as it evolved and bore the brunt of my excitements and anxieties. He also made it possible for me to leave the everyday world behind for some con- centrated writing weeks. These were times of great quiet and pleasure and I would not have had them without him. The Faculty of Humanities and School of English at the Newcastle University gave me a period of leave to write this book, and my colleagues there were immensely supportive through- out. Matthew Grenby in particular was uncomplaining about the extra work my absence created for him – and a wonderful host while I was between homes as well. Mark Vasey-Saunders was generous with his time and knowledge of the world of role playing games. Without Kate Chedgzoy and Linda Anderson’s determination to create a place for children’s literature in the School of English, there would have been no book. My mother, Bobbie Griffith, and Mary Nyman, from the Westbrook Library in Connecticut, were tireless unpaid research assistants. David Rudd read, commented on and care- fully corrected the final manuscript. This book has grown out of several years of teaching and research. Many colleagues and students – not least those at the National Centre for Research in Children’s Literature and the MA in Children’s Literature at Roehampton University – have contributed to the thinking it contains at various stages. There is not space to mention them all by name, but some have played a particularly important part in this book’s genesis and I want to thank them for their time, companionship and unfailing interest in chil- dren’s literature. Special thanks, then, to Noga Applebaum, Laura Atkins, Sandra Beckett, Clare Bradford, the Children’s Literature UK ListServ, Valerie Coghlan, Nadia Crandall, Marie Derrien, Alison Evans, Michele Gill, Susan Hancock, Vanessa Joosen, Gillian Lathey, Tomoko Masaki, Kathy Meyer, Okiko Miyake, the NorChilNet group – both students and leaders–Lisa Oakden, Emer O’Sullivan, Lissa Paul, Pat Pinsent, Lisa Sainsbury, Liz Thiel and Akiko Yamazaki. Lynne Vallone was great at making sure it got written! Finally, Paula Kennedy, my Editor at Palgrave, has been a steady support throughout. I appreciate her belief in the project and her efforts in helping it take shape. ix

Description:
Radical Children's Literature reappraises the place of children's literature in culture, showing it to be a creative space where writers and illustrators try out new ideas - about books, society, and the possibilities for narrative in an age of instant communication and multi-media. It looks at the
See more

The list of books you might like

Most books are stored in the elastic cloud where traffic is expensive. For this reason, we have a limit on daily download.