From Campaigns to Improve the Moral Standards of Children’s Books to their Literary Consecration: The Emergence of an International Sub-Field

Abstract

This article traces the genesis and development of a transnational, and later international, sub-field of children’s literature since 1945. In the post-war period, children’s literature was central to debates about the moral improvement and protection of young people. A number of individuals drew on the legitimacy of these moralizing discourses and joined forces to found three international cultural institutions: the International Youth Library in Munich (1949), the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY, 1951), and the Bologna Children’s Book Fair (1965). The objectives of these three institutions soon converged towards the promotion and development of children’s books. The article first examines these three institutions and the shared network of individuals behind them, before analysing changes in the international mechanisms for the recognition and promotion of children’s literature.