Youth Literature Research Articles

THE SPECIFICITY OF AUTHOR'S REPRESENTATION OF MODERN FAMILY MODELS AND MATERNAL CHARACTERS IN NOWADAYS UKRAINIAN LITERATURE FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH

The article considers the specificity of the author’s representation of modern family models and maternal characters in nowadays literature for children and youth on the example of works of Ukrainian writers. The relevance of the research is emphasized, which is caused by the transformation of socio-cultural stereotypes in the maternal sphere. Classical and modern approaches to understanding the concepts of family and motherhood in the socio-psychological context, in folklore and fiction are outlined. The collection “Mom on Skype” highlights informal family models: children without fathers; children with a father/in the father’s new family; children in a full family after the mother’s return. The problematic and thematic proximity of the stories and the commonality of motifs are emphasized. The artistic means of creating images of children and mothers are characterized. Attention is focused on understanding the fact of a mother’s remote stay as a stressful situation that affects the child’s personal and psychological development. The book “Maya and Her Mothers” records the transformation of ideas about family and family values. The diversity of children’s families (a child and two mothers, a child in a family of guardians, a child in a family with a stepfather or stepmother, a test-tube child in a full-fledged family) is noted as the author’s fixation of a cross-section of modern society in its gender, social, and mental manifestations. The contrast between the motifs of the work and the collection “Mom on Skype”, their characters, their harmony, the absence of internal contradictions and conflicts are emphasized.

International youth literature in the Chinese EFL classroom

Abstract This qualitative case study examines the role of international youth literature in enhancing the English language learning and global competence of Chinese university students. Through engaging in meaningful literacy activities, this study reveals the potential of a critical-global-literacies-based approach to foster cultural sensitivity and global awareness. By investigating how students gained knowledge of cultural diversity and developed a critical understanding of our interconnected world, this paper advocates for a dynamic approach to literature-oriented English language education, thus prompting a paradigm shift in teaching practices.

Inquiry Design Method: Teaching September 11, 2001 and Post-9/11 History with Children’s & Youth Literature

This practitioner paper describes an inquiry-based approach applying the College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) framework to facilitate instruction of September 11, 2001 history, and its impact on post-9/11 society. An upper elementary level inquiry teaches the Boatlift Rescue from Manhattan Island, and a secondary level inquiry addresses the concepts of loss and persistence. Enduring issues are humanity and resiliency. The featured sources are children’s and youth literature related to 9/11 history and post-9/11 society. Children’s and youth trade books offer educators a valuable starting point to teach about 9/11 and post-9/11 history. For each inquiry instructional strategies are highlighted that encourage students to make their thinking visible when reading trade books and using primary sources from 9/11 repositories.

Psychopharmacology Review for Eating Disorders Among Children, Adolescents, and Adults.

This article reviews the latest research on pharmacological management of eating disorders, including anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), binge-eating disorder (BED), and avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder. Recent literature for both youth and adult populations obtained through a PubMed search was included. American Psychiatric Association guidelines, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines, Canadian practice guidelines, and World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry guidelines were also included. First-line recommendations were focused on therapy because the evidence for medication management of eating disorders continues to be limited. Some limited evidence was found for antipsychotic use for AN, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and topiramate use for BN, and stimulant and topiramate use for BED. Further medication trials are needed to help with complex eating disorder presentations in adults and youth.

Wide angle: Youth literature: a story of growth and wonder

Wide angle: Youth literature: a story of growth and wonder

Public Libraries as Shapers of a Youth Canon

We start with the hypothesis that the library is a fundamental institution in the creation of the youth literary canon. To uphold it, we analyze the process of constructing this canon by examining the titles that are selected from the library, how they are selected and who selects them. The methodology involved the preparation of two surveys and the analysis of 209 responses from public libraries in Spain and 162 from their reading clubs, 19 of youth literature. The data identifies, classifies, analyzes, and compares the titles of the works selected in public libraries: on the one hand, the books that the user chooses to borrow and, on the other hand, those that are read in reading clubs. In the case of the reading clubs, there is a mediation process that we describe and analyze based on the responses to the surveys. The results demonstrate the importance of mediation carried out by librarians and club coordinators to ensure that users engage in diverse and quality reading.

The effect of storytelling on the development of language and social skills in French as a foreign language classrooms

Youth literature allows for the exploration of linguistic and cultural elements, guiding learners to develop their oral interaction skills and critical thinking in the face of sensitive topics such as coexistence, differences, tolerance, xenophobia, and racism. The UNESCO (2010) considers the learning of living together as a fundamental educational mission. Starting from the premise that these values can be embraced by educational systems, this paper examines the effect of storytelling on the development of language and social skills among French as a foreign language learners. The researchers focus on middle school students who are learning French as a foreign language, aiming to address the following question: To what extent does storytelling facilitate the advancement of language acquisition as well as socialization and coexistence skills among the target group? Approaching this, the French textbook designed for middle school students in Algeria is examined, revealing the motives behind the various selections found in the book in order to support our argument. A total of 23 students were given a pre-test to evaluate their level of socialization. After completing three storytelling sessions, a post-test was conducted to assess student's level of socialization. The findings indicate that examining narratives that focus on various social and civic principles is crucial since they affect students' perspectives. The fact that underlines storytelling's role in enhancing students' ability to coexist harmoniously. The results reveal that the study of narratives conveying various social and civic values had a significant impact on the observed students' perceptions. By exploring tales that convey these values, we observed noticeable changes in how students grasp the concepts of respect, responsibility, and cooperation within the educational and social community.

Ch. Aitmatov and the Russian traditionalist prose of the 1960s–1970s (on the 95th anniversary of the writer’s birth)

INTRODUCTION. Ch.T. Aitmatov (1928–2008) is a major writer whose work was originally associated with Kyrgyzstan, was widely known in the Soviet Union, and recognized by the world cultural community. His prose is associated with several directions and trends in Russian Soviet literature. The purpose of the study is to draw parallels between Aitmatov’s works of the 1960–1980s and Russian traditionalist literature of that time, to establish the degree of poetic “kinship” between phenomena belonging to different national cultures.MATERIALS AND METHODS. The research material is Ch. Aitmatov’s stories “My Poplar in a Red Scarf”, “Mother’s Field”, the novel “Stormy Stop”, F. Abramov’s novel “Home”, V. Astafiev’s stories, V. Shukshin’s stories. The main methods of studying the material are comparative typological, historical and genetic; a mythopoetic approach to the analysis of literary works is also used.RESULTS AND DISCUSSION. It has been established that Ch. Aitmatov’s prose is related to “industrial literature”, to “lyrical prose”, to “youth literature”. The connections between Aitmatov’s stories and novels and “village prose” turn out to be closer. The desire to preserve memory, traditions, and archetypes of behavior characteristic of the centuries-old culture of the Kyrgyz people is of great importance for the heroes of Ch. Aitmatov’s stories and novels. This trend also characterizes Russian traditionalist literature of the 1960–1980s, which declared the need for a careful attitude towards Russian national traditions. In many respects, the images of the main characters and the mythological motifs of the works of Ch. Aitmatov and the Russian “villages” turn out to be consonant and comparable in a number of parameters. Significant similarities were revealed in the perception of the native land and fields in the works of the “villagers” and Ch. Aitmatov, in the depiction of ambiguous socio-ethical processes in Soviet society of the 1960–1980s, in the understanding of the processes of corrosion of a national character.CONCLUSION. Prose by Ch.T. Aitmatov is close to various currents of Russian literature of the twentieth century in its characteristic humanistic orientation, in its attention to the hero involved in solving acute social and ethical problems of the time. Ch. Aitmatov’s prose is characterized by a poetic “kinship” with the traditionalist direction of Russian literature, manifested in genre, composition, figurative, ideological analogies and correspondences between phenomena belonging to different national cultures. They are brought together by the image of the mother earth, an attempt to rehabilitate and preserve the archetypes of national ethics, to integrate them into modernity full of contradictions. It seems promising to further study the parallels between Ch. Aitmatov’s prose and Russian traditionalist literature in order to determine the national identity of the writers’ artistic worlds and clarify the origins of the commonality of their concepts of the world and man.

Глаголы «работать» и «делать» в идиостиле Н. С. Дашевской: прагмасемантический аспект

The aim of the research is to characterize the author’s pragmatic attitude related to the use of lexemes belonging to the lexico-semantic group of verbs naming work activities in general (‘работать’ (to work), ‘делать’ (to do)) in the texts of N. S. Dashevskaya’s novellas; to determine the reasons for the preference for the lexeme ‘делать’ and the specifics of its functioning in the texts under study. The research is original in that it is the first to examine the functioning of the verbs ‘работать’ and ‘делать’ as units belonging to the lexico-semantic group ‘Work activities’ to comprehend the author’s pragmatic attitudes in a text addressed to children or adolescents. The research findings showed that the author’s reference to the specified lexico-semantic group is associated with the wide collocability of the verb ‘делать’, which affects its general linguistic use, and with the features specific to the texts of children’s and youth literature. Phraseological units and set expressions that include the lexeme ‘делать’ make it possible to describe the specific behavioral features of a child or adolescent protagonist, the grammatical compatibility of the lexeme with direct additions naming academic disciplines (‘делать алгебру’ (to do algebra homework), ‘делать проект’ (to do a project)) serves as a reliable representation of the ordinary life of schoolchildren, which emphasizes the realism of N. S. Dashevskaya’s novellas.

Afro-Latin@ Representation in Youth Literature: Affirming Afro-Latin@ Cultural Identity

Afro-Latin@ Representation in Youth Literature: Affirming Afro-Latin@ Cultural Identity

Meyer, Abbye E. <i>From Wallflowers to Bulletproof Families: The Power of Disability in Young Adult</i> <i>Narratives</i>. UP of Mississippi, 2022. 204 pages. ISBN: 9781496837585

A common observation in disability studies is that historically, disability has been a unifying marginalisation—the one intersection from which other identities hope for distance or even escape (Mitchell & Snyder 3; Davis 277). Problem novels, often dismissed as an inevitable but undesired aspect of adolescent literature (Miskec & McGee 164), occupy a similar space in studies of youth literature. These texts are often considered representative of young adult literature by those outside of children’s literature studies and are often treated defensively by those of us within it as a stereotype the field must overcome. There is, however, very little scholarship explicitly on problem novels. Abbye E. Meyer’s work, From Wallflowers to Bulletproof Families: The Power of Disability in Young Adult Narratives, offers a new defence and reinterpretation of the problem novel as she asks readers to consider these significant gaps in the literature: “the ways in which disability and young adult literature interact” and “the kinds of power these interactions produce” (12). As an analysis of American representations of disability and adolescence, Meyer’s work is often compelling, especially in its recontextualization of “exemplary” didacticism (Meyer 96). While I do question the conflation of adolescence as disabling in early chapters as potentially overly diagnostic and easily misread (and as a non-American reader I lament the limitations in attributing the “young adult voice” (16) so squarely to Holden Caufield and Esther Greenwood), Meyer’s work is an important contribution to both literary and disability studies as we continue to engage on topics of representation, voice, and crip power.

Transracially Adopted Korean Children in Youth Literature

Transracially Adopted Korean Children in Youth Literature

Розвиток громадянської компетентності здобувачів початкової освіти у процесі позакласної роботи з художніми творами

The article actualizes the problem of formation and development of civic competence in modern Ukrainian society. Its importance for educational institutions of different levels is determined; the necessity of working on this issue with primary school students is emphasized. The newest educational documents (the Concept of National and Patriotic Education, the State Standard of Primary Education, the Model Educational Program, the Concept of the New Ukrainian School) on the essence of civic competence, goals and objectives, mandatory learning outcomes for students in terms of civic competence are characterized. The potential of literature for children and youth as means of forming and developing the civic competence of primary school students is determined, the possibilities of its use in extracurricular activity on this issue are revealed. Based on the analysis of the latest publications, texts for children and youth that can be used by primary school teachers in extracurricular practice to develop civic competence in grade 4 are grouped. The system of tasks for the development of civic competence of primary school students (grade 4) in the process of extracurricular activity is presented. Іnformation about the approbation of the system of tasks in the process of pedagogical activity is provided.

ЗНАЧЕЊЕТО НА ПРИЈАТЕЛСТВОТО И ОСАМЕНОСТА ВО МЕЃУВРСНИЧКИ ТЕРЕЛАЦИИ, ПРИКАЖАНО ВО МАКЕДОНСКАТА КНИЖЕВНОСТ ЗА ДЕЦА И МЛАДИ

Humans are social beings for whom social communication with other people is vital. Usually, when the word “loneliness” is mentioned, the first association is related to older people, or people of an advanced age. But the fact is that loneliness cannot be linked specifically to a certain age in a person. Neither children nor adolescents are an exception to that. Adolescence is a period of transition, in which young people face many new challenges, both in their family and at school. Hence, it is crucial for the young man to have harmonious relations in his family, and especially to establish friendly relations at school, in places where young people go out, etc. In this way, friendship with peers can relieve them of the stress related to school, grades, appearance that changes “overnight”, etc. In this article, we refer to those few key moments, through appropriate examples that we will extract from contemporary Macedonian literature for children and youth.

“I Believe in the Magic in Things”: Heinz Janisch in Conversation with the Institute for Youth Literature, Austria

“I Believe in the Magic in Things”: Heinz Janisch in Conversation with the Institute for Youth Literature, Austria

‘순수의 시대’에서 ‘불화의 세대’로

This study aims to examine the intersection of the transgressive ambivalence of ‘gossip’ and ‘girl’ by focusing on the young adult chick lit Gossip Girl (2002) by Cecily von Ziegesar. In Ziegesar’s novel, which takes the form of a print version of a blog called gossipgirl.net, the anonymous blogger Gossip Girl vividly recounts the gossip of the girls at a wealthy private school in New York City. In form, Gossip Girl, a contemporary young adult chick lit designed for teenagers, straddles the line between literature and cultural product, following in the footsteps of Edith Wharton’s novels of manners, which sharply captured the inner workings of New York high society more than a century ago. In terms of content, Gossip Girl uploads in real time how girls who no longer live in the ‘age of innocence’―a time when scandal was the ruin of women―actively appropriate gossip, consume dissonance, and create new subjectivities. Analyzing Gossip Girl from a postfeminist perspective reveals that gossip and girls are ambivalent., transgressing boundaries. By shedding light on the meaning of gossip/girl in a contemporary context, this study offers a new and timely interpretation of micro-discourse and subjectivity and is expected to contribute to expanding the horizons of youth literature and gender studies.

Turkish Teacher Candidates' Views on Youth Literature

Bu çalışmanın amacı, Türkçe öğretmeni adaylarının gençlik edebiyatına yönelik görüşlerinin belirlenmesidir. Bu bağlamda çalışmada Türkçe öğretmeni adaylarının gençlik edebiyatına yönelik görüşlerini değerlendirmek amacıyla nitel araştırma yöntemlerinden durum çalışması kullanılmıştır. Araştırmanın çalışma grubunu Muş Alparslan Üniversitesinde öğrenimlerine devam eden 79 Türkçe öğretmeni adayı oluşturmaktadır. Çalışmada veriler araştırmacı tarafından geliştirilen “Görüşme Formu” ile toplanmıştır. “Görüşme Formu” Türkçe öğretmeni adaylarına “Google Formlar” ve “e-posta” aracılığıyla aktarılmıştır. Verilerin analizinde ise içerik analizinden yararlanılmıştır. Çalışmanın ihtiyaç duyulan her aşamasında uzman görüşlerine başvurulmuştur. Çalışma sonucunda Türkçe öğretmeni adaylarının büyük çoğunluğunun gençlik edebiyatı kavramını duydukları, Türkçe öğretmeni adaylarının gençlik edebiyatını en çok “ergenlik çağındaki gençlere yönelik edebiyat/gençlere hitap eden edebiyat” ve “gençler tarafından yazılan edebiyat/genç nesillerin oluşturduğu edebiyat” şeklinde tanımladıkları, Türkçe öğretmeni adaylarının gençlik edebiyatı denildiğinde akıllarına en fazla roman, öykü ve şiir türlerinin geldiği ve Türkçe öğretmeni adaylarının büyük çoğunluğuna göre gençlik edebiyatının çocuk edebiyatından ayrılan yönleri bulunduğu sonucuna ulaşılmıştır. Çalışmada bulgular alan yazını ışığında yapılmış araştırmaların sonuçlarıyla karşılaştırılmış ve çeşitli önerilerde bulunulmuştur.

O literackich losach opowieści o bitwie na Kosowym Polu i próbie przybliżenia jej polskim czytelnikom dziecięcym

This article is devoted to the Polish edition of a collection of Serbian folk songs, which was published in 1962 by the Polish publishing house Nasza Księgarnia under the title Bitwa na Kosowym Polu (The Battle of Kosovo). It is the first and only complete edition of the songs of the Kosovo cycle in Polish, translated for young readers by Zygmunt Stoberski, an outstanding translator and promoter of Serbian literature in Poland. The article is divided into several parts. In the first one, attention is focused on the battle itself, which took place in 1389, the folk songs commemorating this event and the importance of the Kosovo myth. In the second part, the focus is on the fascination with the Serbian Middle Ages in Serbian literature for children and youth. In the following parts, Polish‑Serbian literary contacts after World War II and the history of translations of texts for children, the translation and popularization activities of Zygmunt Stoberski, and the reception of Serbian folk song in Poland were reviewed. The main purpose of the article was to show how the translator and the publishing house Nasza Księgarnia adapted the Serbian epic to the perceptual abilities of young readers. It also shows how Bitwa na Kosowym Polu can be seen against the background of Polish historical prose for children, which was written in the 1950s and 1960s.

Between a Relic of the Past and a Socialist Duty: Child and Adolescent Labour in ‘Comunist Poland’ in the Light of Literary Fiction for Young People (1948–1980)

This paper examines the cultural image of child and adolescent labor performed in the People’s Republic of Poland in the years 1948–1989 as was presented in the literary fiction addressed to the young people. During the Stalinist period, literature officially condemned child labor on individual farms, but affirmed the labor of adolescent workers in state industry and construction. After the 1956 Thaw, the subject matter of labor was receding into the background, for several reasons. Nevertheless, the post-1956 youth literature also featured labor-related themes: community works, school cooperatives, work in family crafts, tutoring, and shady trade.

SOCIAL PROFILES OF TURKISH CHILDREN AND YOUTH LITERATURE AUTHORS

When examined the national and international literature, there are very few studies on the social profiles of the artists working in the fields of children and youth literature. The scarcity of existing studies in the field in terms of quantity has been the starting point for this study. In this study, the profiles of 577 authors in Hasan Latif Sarıyüce's encyclopedia of Turkish children's and youth literature were examined in terms of gender, date and place of birth, educational status, father's profession, own profession, literary genre, the number of awards they received, and foreign expansion variables. The study was qualitative, and the data were analyzed using content analysis technique. According to the results obtained in the study, it is evident that the number of authors who wrote works in the field increased after the Republic period. The gender role of most authors was male. The artists were mainly born in the western provinces of Turkey. The fathers of the artists were mostly soldiers, teachers, and members of parliament. When the professions of the artists are examined, it is seen that they are mostly teachers, authors, and civil servants. It has been seen that artists mostly produce poems, stories, and novels. Few artists in the field have received awards. The number of authors whose works have been translated into foreign languages is also very low. Some suggestions are presented based on the findings obtained from the study.