Monday, December 1, 2008

Victorians




We can do comparisons among some Children’s Literature books and we will find certain shared characteristics.
It’s surprising that the best Children’s Literature creations have been written in English. It could sound very strange too, but some Children’s Literature masterpieces were written in the reign of Queen Victoria –Victorian era (second half of 19th century)– , one of the most prolific time period in this kind of Literature.
Writers like James M. Barrie, Oscar Wilde, Charles Dickens or Robert Louis Stevenson, whose began to write for adults (we can never see Great Expectations or De profundis like Children’s Literature examples…), have been exalted like excellent Children’s Literature creators for ages because traditionally they have been read for children. Titles like Peter Pan & Wendy, Alice in Wonderland, A Christmas Tale or Treasure Island, have fed a lot of children imaginations in the world.
We can add one more detail: it’s a coincidence that their authors were British.
All these things and coincidences have promoted that many Literature investigators and linguists centre his studies in these books or authors.
One of these cases is Alison Lurey’ studies that have been published in some books like Don’t tell the grown-ups: Subversive Children’s Literature. If you are interested in, simply read it.

1 comment:

Núria said...

Yes victorian times were the times when children started being treated as children and imagination wasn't seen as something evil anymore. Therefore, they understood children needed proper books and so the publishing houses started to see the benefits of it.

I love reading Classic English children's books.

Great blog!
Núria