Unlike adult’s literature which deals with all issues and themes of society, children’s literature is required to avoid the unpleasant topics such as racism, sexuality, cultural bias, and violence. Here, an important question emerges: do the literary works associated to children bear only one interpretation, or they may introduce a double-meaning message? Until the 1940s, it was easy to answer this question; however, the emergence of postmodernism as an iconoclastic, absurd, and hyper-real philosophy makes it difficult to categorize any literary work. For example, the poetic works of Shel Silverstein (1930-1999) may bear more than one interpretations: the first introduces simple and funny messages to children, whereas the second implies political and fragmented ideas through using word-play technique.
Ethics of Children’s Literature
Dr. Mahmoud Moawad Sokar
Unlike adult’s literature which deals with all issues and themes of society, children’s literature is required to avoid the unpleasant topics such as racism, sexuality, cultural bias, and violence. Here, an important question emerges: do the literary works associated to children bear only one interpretation, or they may introduce a double-meaning message? Until the 1940s, it was easy to answer this question; however, the emergence of postmodernism as an iconoclastic, absurd, and hyper-real philosophy makes it difficult to categorize any literary work. For example, the poetic works of Shel Silverstein (1930-1999) may bear more than one interpretations: the first introduces simple and funny messages to children, whereas the second implies political and fragmented ideas through using word-play technique.
Some children’s fictions such asThe Story of Little Black SamboandCharlie and the Chocolate Factorypresent controversial ideas such as cultural bias, racism, and stereotyping. All these problematic issues raise many doubts and questions concerning children’s literature. However, such individual works are not only the controversial productions of children’s literature as misusing children’s literature.
[...]
- Citation du texte
- Dr. Mahmoud Sokar (Auteur), 2022, Ethics of Children’s Literature, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/1182867
