Brian Alderson-- back in the late 60's said that when people evaluate children's literature they shouldn't care about children-- that although the evaluation would lack the influence of the intended audience and the authorial intention, it would remain non-subjective.
I disagree.
I don't think there can be non-subjective criticisms of literature. There can be objective evaluation-- Something is awkward, it doesn't flow, it is full of grammatical errors, the plot doesn't make sense. These things can be objectively determined. Criticism though, I believe, always has a bias. I am looking for the political undertone, the gender/class issues, the moral lesson. I'm not saying this is wrong-- and sometimes a message-- especially a moral message in a work for children seems obvious, but I think disregarding the child and disregarding the author's intent is not a way to be objective when looking at children's literature.
Dear Me...
11 years ago
1 comment:
Hmm... interesting. My favorite children's books were always the "Mr. and Little Miss" series by Roger Hargreaves. I'm intrigued by your interest in gender/class issues in these stories. Would you not, for example, expose your children to books that did not satisfy you politically? And does this refusal help your children become politically savvy or does it make them political indoctrinees? I've always hoped that I would have the guts to raise my children without indoctrinating them religiously, for example -- but I've realized recently that that might end up backfiring, turning them into the only kids in class who know nothing about the story of Jesus or Moses, perhaps?
Post a Comment