Course: ENG 334 Children’s Literature

In this course, we compare and contrast the images of childhood revealed in children’s literature to those of political, cultural, philosophical, educational, and sociological theories over time. We discover how children’s literature has always been particularly vulnerable to the ideologies of its time. Its specific didactic function, however, rarely survives the passing of time because of the relatively rapid change in social and moral rules and educational attitudes. In order to understand the contexts of literature for children, we identify and describe the images of childhood as revealed in children’s literature over time. How has the concept of John Locke’s Tabula Rasa influenced the genre? What ideas turned children’s books from agents of conservatism to agents of subversion? What are the influences of imperialism and colonialism on literature for children? To answer these and other questions, we discuss important authors and multi-cultural works in the history of children’s literature from the 17th century to the early 20th century.