Children’s literature between control and desire to escape. This paper focuses on an historical dichotomy that characterizes children’s literature, for which children’s books are located in the middle of complex dynamics between monitoring instances and desire to escape. Children's literature indeed re-elaborates and displays the cultural contradictions related to childhood images and educational choices made by society. We can observe the same dynamics in the contemporary publishing industry. Despite its richness in artistic and aesthetic research projects, the publishing industry shows a tendency to follow contradictory directions, which can be summarised by the metaphors of “inside in the ordinary” and “outside in the extraordinary”. In the 'Inside' we can find conservative , monitoring and controlling instances that adults impose on children, while the 'Outside' is characterized by metaphors of initiation, adventure and otherness. These tales and imagery reflect the symptoms of a crisis in education, which is suspended in a state of ambiguity. The publishing industry of children’s literature indeed expresses contradictory views as it speaks to the 'Inside' pretending to be 'Outside'.
La letteratura per l’infanzia tra sorveglianza e fughe desideranti. Il contributo riflette su una storica dicotomia della letteratura per l’infanzia che pone i libri per bambini al centro di complesse dinamiche tra istanze di sorveglianza e movimenti di fuga desiderante. La letteratura per l’infanzia, infatti, restituisce e rielabora le contraddizioni che la cultura produce in rapporto all’immagine d’infanzia e alle scelte educative che la società privilegia. Anche l’editoria contemporanea, pur così ricca di percorsi di ricerca artistica ed estetica, tende, però, ad imboccare direzioni spesso conflittuali, riassumibili nelle metafore del “dentro l’ordinario” e del “fuori nello straordinario”: nel dentro si situano le istanze conservative, di sorveglianza e di controllo imposte all’infanzia dal mondo adulto, nel fuori si attivano le metafore iniziatiche dell’avventura e dell’alterità. Ma le storie e le figure rispecchiano i sintomi di una crisi dell’educazione che resta sospesa sul filo dell’ambiguità. L’editoria per ragazzi infatti, abita sovente uno spazio confusivo che parla al dentro travestendosi da fuori.
La letteratura per l'infanzia tra sorveglianza e fughe desideranti
Milena Bernardi
2019
Abstract
Children’s literature between control and desire to escape. This paper focuses on an historical dichotomy that characterizes children’s literature, for which children’s books are located in the middle of complex dynamics between monitoring instances and desire to escape. Children's literature indeed re-elaborates and displays the cultural contradictions related to childhood images and educational choices made by society. We can observe the same dynamics in the contemporary publishing industry. Despite its richness in artistic and aesthetic research projects, the publishing industry shows a tendency to follow contradictory directions, which can be summarised by the metaphors of “inside in the ordinary” and “outside in the extraordinary”. In the 'Inside' we can find conservative , monitoring and controlling instances that adults impose on children, while the 'Outside' is characterized by metaphors of initiation, adventure and otherness. These tales and imagery reflect the symptoms of a crisis in education, which is suspended in a state of ambiguity. The publishing industry of children’s literature indeed expresses contradictory views as it speaks to the 'Inside' pretending to be 'Outside'.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
