2007 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
The Transformation of the Image of Child and Environmental Consciousness in 20th Century American Children's Literature
| Project/Area Number |
17520194
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
ヨーロッパ語系文学
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| Research Institution | Aoyama Gakuin University |
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Principal Investigator |
TAKADA Kenichi Aoyama Gakuin University, College of Literature, Professor (20008048)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2005 – 2007
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| Keywords | American children's literature / American picture book / nature and environment / image of childhood / ecocriticism / children's literature and nature |
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| Research Abstract |
Based on the idea of ecocriticism, which, simply put, is the study of the relationship between literature and the physical environment and culture, the present research points out how the image of child and environmental consciousness changed in 20th century American children's literature. Basically children's attitudes toward nature have been a miniature of adults ; that is, human beings rule nature. A great change occurred when L.Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was published at the turn of the century. In the book Baum, known as an advocate of Populism, describes a little girl as the leader of the party consisted of Big Lion (animal), Scarecrow (plant) and Woodman (mineral), and depicts their relationship as equal comrades. Among them, there exists no hierarchy. Clearly, this setting is subversive in terms of physical strength, knowledge and experience. Also, their relationship is equal because they are comrades. No gap is found among them ; furthermore, their relationship su
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ggests an entirely new attitude toward man and nature.
Nature is often regarded as a woman in the States, and becomes a target of exploitation ever after the colonial days. However, after Henry Beston said that "nature as the other country" in 1928, different eco-conscious books for children, especially animal stories come to appear. Among them, Virginia Lee Burton's picture book The Little House (1942) signals a great change in 20th century children's literature. After her book, American children's literature opens an entirely new world : Scott O'Dell's Island of the Blue Dolphins (1960) tells that "animals and birds are like people...without them the earth would be an unhappy place." This is a lesson the little girl of the book learns through the life with animals. As Rachel Carson once said in her The Sense of Wonder published in 1965, what is needed today is that we should regain a sense of wonder toward nature and environment to keep it. The world of American children's literature is a treasure island we can discover a wonderful world of nature and children. Less
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