Reviewing the Concepts of “the Modern Child” and “Small Adult”— A Plea for “Third World Small Adults’ Literature” as an Alternative to “Children’s Literature”
Abstract
The pre-modern “small adult”, who was treated as a grownup, used to be the complete opposite of the “the modern child” who needed to be protected and educated by adults. Because children’s literature, which was largely shaped by the Grimms and their followers, excessively isolated “the child” from the cultural sphere of adults, an impassable critical distance was constructed between the readers and characters, which supported “the modern child discourse” isolating the child from the world of adults and “history”. However, especially certain works of the “Third World small adults’ literature” written with an anti-colonial historical consciousness provides an alternative model. This article primarily reveals the flawed foundations of the discursive categories that are regarded as “the modern child” and “children’s literature”. Then, it analyses certain examples of the “Third World small adults’ literature” in order to manifest how this category could serve as an antidote to the conventional modern children’s literature within the scope of its potential contributions to the creativity and education of its readers.
Keywords
Samad Behrangi,Gao Yubao,Rabia Zochdi,Kojin Karatani,Postcolonial Literature,Children’s Literature
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