An Analysis of the Educational Value of Children’s Literature in Else Günther’s Sonjas lustige Türkenreise

Yıl 2018, Cilt: 1 Sayı: 39, 19 - 33, 27.06.2018

Ali Osman Öztürk

Öz

Else Günther is a children’s author who began writing after the World War II, but was almost completely forgotten by the end of the 1970s. In her books, which contain pre-intercultural characteristics, she made efforts to introduce some foreign continents, such as Africa and Asia (Turkey) as well as Scandinavian countries like Sweden, Norway, and Finland to the children of post-war Germany. Through such a familiarization, in my opinion, she aims to develop the intercultural skills in children of post-war children Germany. In Sonjas lustige Türkenreise, it appears that the author does not imply the destruction and consequences of the Nazi regime, even though she wrote in the beginning of the 1950s. On the contrary, she seems to bring an exemplary family life at the forefront of the new welfare society. Even the title Sonjas lustige Türkenreiseis striking, for it includes the words “Turkish Trip” instead of “Turkey Trip.” Therefore, it can probably be interpreted as a mental trip into the culture of the Turks, i.e., Asians. The novel is about “middle-class heroes” coming from good family backgrounds. In the novel, imagination and psychology become important elements for children to get away with the obligations of honesty (as a duty) and strict adherence to norms set by adults (see Steinlein, 2008, p. 327). In my opinion, this requires the involvement of Günther’s young girl novel into the texts of “child autonomy literature” (Ewers, 1995), i.e., into the field of the pacemaker texts, as the novel includes a free-spirited and rebellious protagonist. Not only is the relationship between parents and children important but also the way in which Günther reflects foreign worlds, in terms of pedagogy, is interesting, especially regarding the intercultural education of children of the new generation.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Else Günther, children’s novel, young girl novel, educational, child autonomy

Kaynakça

• Günther, Else [1965]. Sonjas lustige Türkenreise, Göttingen: W. Fischer Verlag (= Göttinger Jugendbände). Sekundärliteratur Doderer, Klaus (1984). Lexikon der Kinder- und Jugendliteratur. Begründet von Klaus Doderer, Band 2, Weinheim und Basel: Beltz Verlag. Kümmerling- Maibauer, Bettina (2003). Kinderliteratur, Kanonbildung und Literarische Wertung. Stuttgart- Weimar: Verlag J. B. Metzler. Kümmerling-Meibauer, Bettina (2012). Kinder- und Jugendliteratur Eine Einführung. Darmstadt: WBG (Wissenschaftliche Bundesgesellschaft). Ewers, Hans- Heino (1995). ‚Kinder und Jugendliteratur‘ ‒ Entwurf eines Lexikonartikels. In: Ewers, Hans- Heino; Nassen, Ulrich; Richter, Karin und Steinlein, Rüdiger (Hrsg.): Kinder- und Jugendliteratur Forschung 1994/95. Mit einer Gesamtbibliographie der Veröffentlichungen des Jahres 1994. Stuttgart und Weimar: Verlag J. B. Metzler. Franz, Kurt und Meier, Bernhard (1978). Didaktische Aspekte der Kinder- und Jugendliteratur. Pädagogische Welt 32 (3), 154-159. Abgerufen von http://epub.uni-regensburg.de/25755/ (Zugriffsdatum: 26.06.2016). Nündel, Ernst (1976): Zur Grundlegung einer Didaktik des sprachlichen Handelns. Kronberg/Ts. O' Sullivan, Emer und Rösler, Dietmar (2013). Kinder- und Jugendliteratur im Fremdsprachenunterricht. Tübingen: Stauffenburg Verlag. Öztürk, A. O. (2016). Eigene und fremde Emotionsschilderungen von Else Günther in ihrem Kinderroman ‚Sonjas lustige Türkenreise‘, Alman Dili ve Edebiyatı Dergisi 2016 / I, Sayı: 35, 25-42. Steinlein, Rüdiger (2008). Neubeginn, Restauration, antiautoritäre Wende, in: Wild, Reiner (Hrsg.): Geschichte der deutschen Kinder- und Jugendliteratur, 3. Aufl, Stuttgart-Weimar: Verlag J.B Metzler, 312-342. Internetquellen: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Else_G%C3%BCnther (Zugriff: 02.07.2016) https://de.wiktionary.org/wiki/Dorothea (Zugriff: 10.03.2018) https://de.wiktionary.org/wiki/Maria (Zugriff: 10.03.2018)