H.-H. Ewers, Fundamental Concepts of Children's Literature Research. Literary and Sociological Approaches
EWERS, Hans-Heino, H.-H. Ewers, Fundamental Concepts of Children's Literature Research. Literary and Sociological Approaches, New York / Abingdon, Routledge (Children's Literature and Culture), 2009, 196 p.
ISBN 978-0-415-80019-8
RÉSUMÉ
In this book, Ewers provides students and professors with a newsystem of categorization for a differentiated description of children'sliterature. In the early 1970s, Swedish children's literature scholarGöte Kingberg worked to establish a system of scientific terminologyfor international use, but these terms are now somewhat antiquated.This book offers a much-needed update, systematically analyzing thefield and articulating its key definitions, terms, and concepts.
International in scope, this study touches on subjects including thedistribution of primers and textbooks, the means by which children'sbooks are evaluated and classified, and the ways in which children'sliterature can find an adult audience. Also discussed are the system ofsymbols, norms, concepts, and discourses that have evolved during thepast two centuries, leading to an investigation of how authors andpublishers have endeavored to make literature "appropriate" forchildren and of what it means to accommodate children's needs, wishes,and values. Throughout, Ewers provides concrete examples and cleardefinitions of terms so that any scholar interested in children'sliterature will find this book approachable, insightful, and one thatcrosses cultural boundaries.
BIOGRAPHIE
Ewers is Professor of German Literature with a focus on Children'sLiterature at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University of Frankfurt/Mainand Director of the "Institut für Jugendbuchforschung" (Institute forChildren's Literature Research).