̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge - Maria Nikolajeva

Fantastic Mr. Dahl

bjb42 — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 16:09:13 +0000

Roald Dahl, born on September 13, 1916, was not a particularly nice person. Judging from the many available biographies, he was quite a nasty person. Yet readers, especially young readers, do not necessarily care about the person behind their favourite books. Most likely, they have their own picture of the author: warm, witty, a great friend of children and a great scoffer of conceited grown-ups.

Dahl is one of those many writers who are significantly more famous for their children's books than their works for a general (that is, adult) audience. Although his short stories are truly brilliant, he would hardly be hailed exclusively for them among the “50 greatest British writers since 1945” ( ̽��ֱ��Times, 5 January 2008). ̽��ֱ��fact that this canon includes a number of children's writers (beside Dahl, C S Lewis, Philippa Pearce, Allan Garner, Philip Pullman and Rosemary Sutcliff) is remarkable in itself; it demonstrates that children's literature cannot any longer be dismissed as second-rate; and I would argue that Roald Dahl has contributed substantially to this recognition, repeatedly mentioned as the best-loved, best-selling author without the, regrettably, still derogatory appellation “children's”.

Yet for a long time, since the appearance of James and the Giant Peach, celebrating its fiftieth anniversary this year, Dahl's reputation as a children's writer has been ambivalent. Exceptionally popular for a pre-Harry Potter era, he used to be looked down at by teachers and critics, precisely because he was unquestionably loved by the young audience. ̽��ֱ��idea that popularity with readers is a sign of poor quality goes back to the elitist view of literature and arts. It is further amplified by the recurrent belief that children's literature should be edifying. Children's books that are enjoyable cannot be good for children, the argument goes. Children should gain knowledge from literature; learn lessons and morals. Giant peaches and talking insects contradict the laws of nature. Children who are cleverer than adults are abominable.

Although some of these reasons may seem obsolete (unfortunately, they are still around), Dahl's children's books have been subjected to hard critical scrutiny, especially the imperialist, racist portrayal of the tiny oompa-loompas in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It is easy to find ideological and aesthetic faults with Charlie and every other book by Dahl, but I am prepared to forgive them all for what is the primary thrust in Dahl's work, his belief in the competent, omnipotent child.

Dahl is irresistibly attractive for young readers because he allows his child protagonists to be unconditionally superior to adults. He is disturbing for adult gatekeepers for exactly the same reason. In our society, children are inescapably disempowered: they lack economic resources, political voice, social status, and must in every situation submit to rules imposed on them by adults. As adults, we are not too eager to cede our power. We don't even want children to get a glimpse of what it might feel for them to be empowered. Even the best children's writers frequently strip their characters of the power they had temporarily gained, with adults' approval, through their adventures. Dahl does not eschew children's ultimate ascent, even if it implies his own self-denial. Some of the cynicism of his adult production leaks into his children's books, and re-reading them as adults we wince.

Dahl offers his young readers what they want, a practice that even some of his most eminent colleagues within children's literature have condemned. He leads a poor hungry boy into a gastronomic utopia, much like the traditional folktale hero winning a princess and a kingdom in hard competition with less virtuous candidates. Adult critics who point out that excessive chocolate eating is bad for your health have missed the point. ̽��ֱ��recent film adaptation that shifts the focus from Charlie onto Willy Wonka (played by Johnny Depp) and his deprived childhood, goes against the very spirit of the original. It is not about a child gaining a paradise; it's about a frustrated, infantile adult buying affection from a gullible family. Luckily, Dahl didn't live to see his great story distorted.

̽��ֱ��most enigmatic aspect of Dahl's books is their sustainability. Several generations of readers all over the world have grown up with James, Charlie, Danny, Matilda, Sophie and the Revolting Rhymes. As the first readers grew up and became teachers, librarians, critics, policy-makers, parents and grandparents, Dahl is suddenly no longer a danger to the order of the world. Looking back to our childhood reading, we rational adults occasionally remember how it felt to be empowered together with our favourite characters; what is was like to laugh with them and to laugh at their adult adversaries. Dahl has burst generational as well as national boundaries. We share him with our children and with our friends abroad. This is what we celebrate on Roald Dahl's birthday, the 13^th of September.

Maria Nikolajeva is a Professor of Education and a the Director of the Cambridge-Homerton Research and Teaching Centre for children's literature. Her most recent book is Power, Voice and Subjectivity in Literature for Young Readers (Routledge, 2010)

To mark Roald Dahl Day on September 13th and the 50th anniversary of James And ̽��ֱ��Giant Peach, Professor Maria Nikolajeva explains why he remains such an important figure for young readers.

It is easy to find ideological and aesthetic faults with every book by Dahl. I am prepared to forgive them all for his belief in the competent, omnipotent child.

Maria Nikolajeva

Maria Nikolajeva.

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̽��ֱ��Twilight Zone?

bjb42 — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Scientists, authors and education experts will all gather to discuss whether there are 'Twilight zones' in the teenage mind; areas of the brain in some way affected or altered by the reading of books like the wildly-popular vampire novels of Stephanie Meyer.

A three-day conference from September 3-5 will make connections between recent neuroscience research and the representation of the adolescent in literature, film, computer games and social networking sites.

Organiser Professor Maria Nikolajeva, said: "We are bringing together people from different disciplines from all over the world to look at the physiological, psychological, chemical and sociological effects of reading teenage fiction.

"Research is going on not just here but around the world into neuroscience and literature; how the teenage brain responds to narrative in the printed word, computer games, media and social media. These things can be the most important part of a teenager's life.

"We need to study this to see what it's all about. Do we want young people to go on reading? Does it matter?"

̽��ֱ��conference is one of the first of its kind and includes keynote addresses from author Meg Rosoff and the hugely respected American linguistic anthropologist Shirley Brice Heath.

Sessions at the conference include 'What is it about good girls and vampires?' 'My life would suck without you' and also a session looking at how gay teenagers are portrayed in young adult literature.

Nikolajeva added: "We can absolutely say that all these different forms of entertainment for teenagers have values. There is evidence, for example, that library use increases among teenagers the day after a popular film comes out.

"Some of these books are huge phenomena. What is happening in the teenage brain when they read books like Twilight that invite fear and abhorrent emotional responses?"

Professor Nikolajeva said that the current trend for darkness and dystopia in children's literature, prevalent in books such as Suzanne Collins' ̽��ֱ��Hunger Games, reflected concerns in the wider, adult world.

"These trends come in waves. A hundred years ago it was about boys having adventures and girls finding husbands. From the 1950s to the 1970s we had emerging sexuality and parent conflict.

"Now, the situation in the world makes us anxious. We've had things like 9/11 and global warming. There is fear and disaster. Since the turn of the millennium this has been a tangible trend which is interesting - and disturbing."

Professor Nikolajeva warned that children's authors carried a huge weight of responsibility on their shoulders, especially with contemporary predilections for ever darker fiction.

She said that because the teenage brain is going through so many changes and is, in effect, unstable, children's authors, film-makers and game developers had a moral responsibility to make sure there remains some element of hope and positive ethics within their work.

She added: "Teenagers cannot really make decisions in the same way adults can. Synapses in their brains are breaking and reforming and the chemistry of the brain is changing."

"So there is a social responsibility that goes with this. However, with most of the books and films aimed at teenagers, you find there is always some hope.

" ̽��ֱ��conference is very important for us. It's one of the first of its kind and is very interdisciplinary. Hopefully we might be able to find out a little more about what is going on inside the teenage mind."

̽��ֱ��effect on the teenage brain of books like Twilight and the Harry Potter series is to be examined at Cambridge ̽��ֱ��.

Some of these books are huge phenomena. What is happening in the teenage brain when they read books like Twilight that invite fear and abhorrent emotional responses?

Professor Maria Nikolajeva

senthil_524 from Flickr

Twilight literature

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Children's literature comes of age

bjb42 — Sat, 01 May 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Understanding the messages and ideas that children pick up from books is an important part of understanding children’s education, as Professor Maria Nikolajeva, Director of Cambridge’s new Centre for Children’s Literature, explained: ‘Children can struggle with fundamental questions of life and death, good and evil, what it means to be a human being, and many will carry ideologies they pick up from picturebooks, fairytales, novels, animation and poetry through to adulthood. Any starting point that has the capacity to shape young people’s development deserves serious consideration.’

‘Children frequently perceive literature and art differently from their parents and teachers, who may have lost the open, immediate and joyful experience of the world that children have,’ added Professor Nikolajeva. ‘A better understanding of the significance of children’s literature and other cultural sources in broad terms can be used to improve children’s education and development.’

̽��ֱ��Cambridge/Homerton Research and Teaching Centre for Children’s Literature has been launched to consolidate and focus the research on children’s books and other cultural sources that has been ongoing for more than 30 years at Homerton College and later at the Faculty of Education. This long tradition has earned both institutions a strong national and international profile as a children’s literature research community of excellence.

Rich seams of investigation

̽��ֱ��goal of research at the Centre is to understand the ideas that children garner through books and other media in these early years, and to use this understanding to help educators make the best use of their materials. This can only be achieved through serious and thorough studies of the texts themselves, their history, themes, structures and social context.

Children’s literature is investigated with the same approaches used by academics studying any other type of literature or art. Indeed, research at the Centre draws on ideas from many areas, including literary criticism, art criticism, childhood studies, cultural studies, psychology, sociology and pedagogy.

This richness of approaches and materials makes children’s literature a particularly exciting area of study. ‘Yet the specific characteristics of children’s literature compared with other literature cannot be ignored,’ said Professor Nikolajeva. ‘Books, films and other cultural media are produced by one social group, the adults, for another social group, the children, and often have educational and instructive purposes. It thus becomes a vehicle of power, a socialisation device that has been employed by adults for centuries. Understanding these mechanisms is a cornerstone of any inquiry into children’s literature.’

Children’s literature is also an important part of our cultural heritage, something that is shared not only between children and adults, but also with people all over the world, as the best children’s books are translated and cross national borders. In recent years, the rising number of books that appeal both to children and adults, such as Philip Pullman’sHis Dark Materialstrilogy, is offering a new dimension for analysing the characteristics of books that are able to bridge this divide, a phenomenon that was last prominent in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Fresh approaches

̽��ֱ��Centre comprises about a dozen academics whose collective research covers texts that represent the widest possible span of reading ages and genres, from picturebooks through to teenage fiction, from fairy tales and fantasy to school stories and adventure, as well as film, comics, graphic novels and video games. In addition to this unique portfolio, the Centre combines theoretical expertise with empirical research in the field, mostly in schools.

Current research topics range from Victorian poetry to the role of nature in Walt Disney’s animation; from what girls read in the 19th century to young children’s understanding of visual texts; from early science books for children to adaptations of Shakespeare; and from young readers’ literature preferences in Lebanon to the image of adolescence in contemporary film. Graduate students also bring their own insights and innovative approaches to the field, as do visiting scholars from all over the world.

̽��ֱ��aim is for the Centre’s research to underpin educational thinking, policy and practice in relation to the importance of children’s literature. ̽��ֱ��scholars are confident that their endeavours can make a difference. ‘At the heart of what we do,’ said Professor Nikolajeva, ‘is a desire to understand how we can best help future generations of children to learn.’

For more information about research at the Faculty of Education, please visit www.educ.cam.ac.uk/centres/childrensliterature/

A new Centre for Children’s Literature is providing a focus for research on how children are shaped by early encounters with books and film.

Books, films and other cultural media are produced by one social group, the adults, for another social group, the children, and often have educational and instructive purposes.

Professor Maria Nikolajeva

mrsdkrebs from Flickr

Children's Literature

PLACE in the wider Faculty

̽��ֱ��Faculty of Education is one of the leading departments of education internationally, and has been repeatedly evaluated as the best nationally, for its commitment to teacher education, development of research-based policy and practice, and educational research of the highest quality.

Its academic staff, numbering more than 80, work within five academic groups that focus on many aspects of understanding and improving education, whether it’s redesigning school science and mathematics teaching, conducting the Cambridge Review of Primary Education, understanding the neuroscience of learning difficulties, evaluating the contribution made to learning by different types of leaders, or investigating how education affects the lives of people living in poorer communities around the world.

̽��ֱ��recently launched Centre for Children’s Literature is hosted by the Pedagogy, Language, Arts and Culture in Education (PLACE) academic group. This multidisciplinary group brings together specialists in arts and creativity, drama and media, modern and second language learning, history, English, geography, philosophy and religious studies. As Professor Maria Nikolajeva, Chair of PLACE, explained, this breadth is significantly benefitting collaborations. ‘In finding synergy between interests and expertise, we are discovering a new research space that can answer questions in different ways.’

An example of this activity is an interdisciplinary research project involving specialists in children’s literature, English, the curriculum and geography, which is investigating how children perceive their identities through the place they live in, using a variety of activities such as reading, creative writing, studying local history and map drawing.

Two schools in East Anglia are taking part in the study. ‘Although only 10 miles from each other, they are worlds apart,’ said Professor Nikolajeva. ‘ ̽��ֱ��urban school has a 95% Pakistani intake and the rural school has many pupils from families that have gone to the same school for generations. This research should raise fascinating differences and similarities in how children understand and learn about their own sense of belonging.’ ̽��ֱ��project builds on recent moves in the statutory curriculum to re-emphasise a cross-curricular approach to classroom teaching; research results will feed back into teaching practice.

For more information about the Centre, please visit www.educ.cam.ac.uk/centres/childrensliterature/ or contact Professor Maria Nikolajeva (mn351 AT cam DOT ac DOT uk) at the Faculty of Education. ̽��ֱ��Centre for Children’s Literature is seeking additional funding for research

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