This study contrasts four distinct discursive responses to (or even accidental remarks on) the Victorian concept of individual and/or social improvement, or progress, set forth by the preeminent social critics, writers, scientists, and historians of the nineteenth century, such as Thomas Carlyle, John Stuart Mill, Thomas Macaulay Matthew Arnold, Charles Darwin, and Herbert Spencer. This teleological ideal, perhaps the most prevalent ideology of the long nineteenth century, originates with the Protestant Christian ethic during and in the years following the Reformation, whereupon it combines with the Enlightenment notions of rational humanity's boundless potential and Romanticism's fierce individualism to create the Victorian doctrine of progress. My contention remains throughout that four nineteenth-century writers for children and adults subvert the doctrine of individual progress (which contributes to the progress of the race) by chipping away at its metaphysical and narratalogical roots. George MacDonald allows progress only on the condition of total selflessness, including the complete dissolution of one's free will, but defers the hallmarks of making progress indefinitely, due to his apocalyptic Christian vision. Lewis Carroll ridicules the notion of progress by playing with our conceptions of linear time and simple causality, implying as he writes that perhaps there is nothing to progress toward, no actual telos on which to fix our sights. Oscar Wilde characterizes moral development as nothing short of self-inflicted cruelty, consigning his most scrupulously moral-minded characters to social subversion or untimely death (the dark reflection of MacDonald's compulsory selflessness). And finally, Rudyard Kipling toys with historical substitutes for conventional progress, such as repetitive cycles, deviating from historical unidirectionality and linear development. He often realigns his characters with their intractable fates at the conclusions of his narratives, echoing Carroll's suggestion that perhaps our goals are delusional. I conclude that while each individual author fails to holistically undermine the doctrine of progress, taken collectively, these four fantasists represent a heretofore unexamined repudiation of the Victorian era's most enduring metaphysical conceits.

Student Number : 0204500X - PhD Thesis - School of Literature and Language Studies - Faculty of Humanities / This thesis is a study of the Sasa Sema’s Lion Series of biographies written for young readers. The Sasa Sema project is concerned with archiving the stories of famous historical figures and contemporary heroes. The research examines the shifts or the trends these biographies take as compared to what has been in existence in discourses on children’s writing in Kenya in the past. I argue that the issues that these biographies are concerned with are a novelty in Kenyan children’s literature. By writing biographies of historical figures in Kenya, the authors are not only making an intervention by creating new models for children’s literature, but they also show that the story of the nation cannot be enacted outside the heroic struggles of its peoples. I further argue that the Sasa Sema project is significant because many writers of children’s literature in Kenya, and in East Africa in general, write mostly about childhood stories rather than historical figures. Also, the characters used in the biographies are adult characters rather than young fictional animal and human characters that have characterized children’s literature in the past. I conclude that these changes broaden the scope of children’s literature in Kenya. The changes in writing for children in Kenya, evident in the biographies under study are examined across the chapters that make up this thesis. Chapter One attempts to locate the biographies under study within Kenya’s children’s literary tradition by looking at the trajectory this literature has taken from pre-colonial time to the present. Chapter Two examines how orality as a stylistic device is used in the texts under study first, to create literary appreciation and secondly, as a means of summoning literature from different cultural backgrounds in which the texts are based. The chapter argues that the use of oral art forms evokes identity and signals cultural diversity in the Kenyan society. Chapter Three addresses the question of female heroism and gender stereotypes in children’s literature. This chapter intimates that biographies, whose narratives draw from real life situations, help in revising the representation of the female character in children’s literature. Chapter Four examines how individual stories are used to narrate Kenya’s history of decolonization for the children. This chapter also avows that the process of colonization created heroes through colonialist institutions such as schools and prisons. Chapter Five examines how the Sasa Sema project argues for the recognition of minority groups that have been marginalized in narratives of nation formation, while Chapter Six discusses the biography of Dedan Kimathi a Mau Mau freedom fighter. The female narrator in Kimathi’s biography, who is also positioned as a participant in the war portrays children’s literature as a vehicle for paying homage to women’s role in the Mau Mau war. In Chapter Seven, I attempt to harmonize the conclusions reached in the previous chapters.

Despite the recognized importance of Anna Letitia Barbauld, Maria Edgeworth, and Charlotte Smith as commentators on 1790s radicalism, pedagogy, and novel conventions, their writings for children and for adults tend to be studied separately. Indeed, despite each writer's familiarity with the others' work, these figures are rarely discussed together. I argue that studying these authors' cross-generic works using a comparative approach reveals the ways in which novels and children's books have informed and influenced each other, both in their reciprocal developments and as distinct genres. I further argue that even as the juvenile fiction of Barbauld, Edgeworth, and Smith seems rather tamely oriented toward the integration of natural history with conduct lessons, the genre was in fact a vital means by which each writer weighed her own social-welfare and aesthetic priorities within contexts of political upheaval.

The tomboy is a female character that has featured prominently in many popular works of children's literature. Typically, the tomboy is a prepubescent or teenaged girl who is frustrated by the expectations and limitations placed upon her because she is female. She is reluctant to conform to feminine standards of appearance and behaviour. This thesis examines the representation and evolution of the tomboy character in two distinct categories of children's series fiction, 'books in a series' and 'series books'[1], focusing on narratological elements such as plot, characterisation and series structure, as well as their publishing context, exploring issues of authorial intent, editorial decisions and, in certain cases, the official revision of texts. 'Books in a series' are usually presented as bildungsroman – that is, stories, or in this case, series, of development. In these narratives, time progresses and the characters age; tomboyishness is depicted as a temporary phase which is grown out of when a girl matures, and learns to accept and perform femininity. In contrast, 'series books' are centred on adventure and/or mystery stories, rather than on the process of growing up – the characters' ages are typically frozen, and tomboyishness is a distinguishing character attribute which remains for the course of the series. In studying children's literature, it is important to acknowledge that the audience of children's literature includes adults as well as children – it is after all, adults who determine and control the production, distribution and legitimisation of texts for children. Originally, children's literature was written specifically for the religious, moral, behavioural and social instruction of children, rather than for their entertainment. Although appearing less overtly didactic in recent times, the production of children’s literature has continued to be driven by the adult concern for ideological appropriateness, and the desire to responsibly educate its young readers. This concern and desire are fuelled by the underlying and persistent belief that children are like sponges and will absorb whatever they are exposed to[2], including representations of gender difference and gender performance. The ways in which the tomboy character has evolved in the children's series are a direct reflection of the shifts in society’s ideas about gender, the gendered education of children, and the adult conception of what is ideologically appropriate for the children’s text. The tomboy character in children's literature has been an important cultural marker of both our evolving and constant values. It is clear that over time gender roles have changed significantly, allowing girls in series fiction to be sleuths, rescuers, warriors and adventurers, but through all of this change, the representation of the tomboy has always reflected adults' conception of what is ideologically appropriate and normal and therefore desirable, in the representation of masculinity and femininity, gender and sexuality in children’s literature – a normality and system of gender based on a steadfast heterosexual hegemony. [1] Inness, Sherrie A., ed. Nancy Drew and Company: Culture, Gender, and Girls' Series. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1997, p.2. [2] Sternheimer, Karen. It's Not the Media: The Truth About Pop Culture's Influence on Children. Boulder, CO: Westview, 2003, p.181.

This thesis is a study of the narrative language of Elsa Beskow, Sweden's most famous children's writer of the early twentieth century. The overall aim of the thesis is to contribute to the understanding of why Beskow's stories are still among the most popular children's books in Sweden, more than a hundred years after her literary debut. My investigation is a quantitative study of word-class distribution, various syntactic features, and readability in four picture-books and four other stories. To begin with, Beskow's language is compared to that of other texts written for young readers, including children's fiction, a contemporary reading-book, and popular comic strips. The results indicate that Beskow has something in common with all of these materials, especially with children's fiction. However, she also has her own style, which is different from the children's fiction I compare with. For example, her sentences are comparatively long and often begin with a conjunction. Moreover, Beskow uses many address phrases and interjectional phrases, and the initial clause-constituent is often some other clause element than the subject. Additionally, Beskow's narrative language is compared to conversational language and to formal prose. The results show that Beskow moves along the whole scale, from conversation to formal writing, depending on what aspect of her language use is considered. In some cases, her style even falls outside of the scale. For example, placing the subject in initial position is less common in Beskow's writing than in both conversation and formal writing. Finally, the variation between Beskow's texts is examined. The analysis shows, among other things, that the oral influences on Beskow's style increased during the five decades she wrote stories.

This thesis provides an examination and analysis of the social contexts of children's response to fiction in order to contribute to a theoretical perspective of literary response as a continuous process. The absence of a consideration of the way that readers are socially constructed renders any conception of literary response incomplete, and a discussion of textual, psychoanalytic and cultural theories of response reveals a gap which Children's Literature must fill. The marginalisation of Children's Literature within literary discourses silences children as readers by denying the recognition of literary engagement inherent in early experiences with fiction. In addition, an investigation of the meta-discourse which surrounds Children's Literature, through criticism, education and provision, demonstrates the way that adult mediations between children and fiction frequently interrupt an innate desire for an authoritative position for the reader within the text, replacing dynamic creative engagement with static modes of reading. In particular, an analysis of the position of children's books, including the processes for editing, selection and marketing, makes it clear, for the first time, that the social contexts of children's fiction, from jacket design to library selection, influence the construction of readers. A new method of empirical research, based on psychoanalysis, phenomenography and Chambers's 'Tell Me' approach to booktalk, provides evidence of the interplay of desire and control in the social construction of readers and reinforces the need for shared discourses. This method is illustrated by the Book Choice Study, consisting of seven individual case studies with children, their parents and teachers, which reveals the importance of an individual's reading history in the promotion of either dynamic or static modes of reading. The study shows that children who engage in a shared discourse about fiction are more likely to participate in a 'literary' engagement than those who experience a divided discourse, confirming the need for a construction of response that includes children and their books.

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis is internationally considered as one of the classics of children’s literature. The series consists of seven books, of which only the first four were translated into Afrikaans, namely Die Towenaar se Neef (The Magician’s Nephew), Die Leeu, die Heks en die Hangkas (The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe), Die Perd en sy Seun (The Horse and his Boy) and Prins Kaspian (Prince Caspian). According to the publisher, Human & Rousseau, they have no intention to translate the remainder of the series. The three books that have not been translated into Afrikaans are The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Silver Chair and The Last Battle. The main aim of this study is the practical translation of a selection of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. The Functionalist approach of Vermeer and Nord, Toury and Chesterman’s translation norms from Descriptive Translation Studies, Venuti’s foreignisation and domestication and Klingberg’s cultural contex adaptation form the theoretical framework for both the discussion and analysis of the source text as well as the translation. The four types of translation problems as identified by Nord are used as the framework for the annotations of the translation. By doing a theoretically based translation, the connection between theory and practice is illustrated: the translator chooses a general approach and translation strategies and is consequently guided to make consistent translation choices on macro as well as micro levels. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: C.S. Lewis se Chronicles of Narnia beklee internasionaal ’n gevestigde plek in die kanon van kinder- en jeugliteratuur. Die reeks bestaan uit sewe boeke, waarvan slegs die eerste vier in Afrikaans vertaal is, naamlik Die Towenaar se Neef, Die Leeu, die Heks en die Hangkas, Die Perd en sy Seun en Prins Kaspian. Volgens die uitgewer, Human & Rousseau, word daar nie verdere vertalings van die reeks beoog nie. Die drie onvertaalde boeke in die reeks is The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Silver Chair en The Last Battle. Hierdie studie fokus hoofsaaklik op die praktiese vertaling van ’n gedeelte van The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Vermeer en Nord se Funksionalisme, Toury en Chesterman se vertaalnorme uit Deskriptiewe Vertaalstudies, Venuti se vervreemding en domestikering en Klingberg se kulturele konteksaanpassing dien as teoretiese raamwerk vir sowel die bespreking en ontleding van die bronteks as die vertaling. Nord se vier tipes vertaalprobleme dien as raamwerk vir die annotasies tot die vertaling. Deur ’n teoreties gebaseerde vertaling te doen word geïllustreer hoe teorie en praktyk by mekaar aansluit: die vertaler kies ’n algemene benadering en vertaalstrategieë, en word sodoende begelei tot konsekwente vertaalbesluite op makro- en mikrovlak.

Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur man som pedagog kan arbeta med genuspedagogik i undervisningen med hjälp av genusneutral barnlitteratur. Forskning pekar på att barn tidigt skaffar sig en uppfattning om vad som förväntas av dem på grund av deras kön. Den svenska läroplanen Lgr 11 förespråkar att läraren ska motverka de traditionella könsmönstren samtidigt som man ska påverka och forma elevers uppfattning om kvinnligt och manligt. För att kunna göra detta krävs det att man undervisar eleverna i genuspedagogik. Barn påverkas av alla de intryck som omger dem, varför barnböcker är en bra utgångspunkt i samtalet om bland annat genus. Metoden är att initialt göra en inventering av helt genusneutrala barnböcker, för att sedan analysera ett urval av dessa, både separat och komparativt. Efter analysen genomförs en etnografisk studie med högläsning och boksamtal som resulterar i diskussioner i barngrupper kring vikten av att tillhöra ett genus. Studien visar att det blir mer komplicerat att hitta acceptans för olikheter och normbrytande ju äldre barnen är. Slutsatsen är att det bör undervisas mer i genuspedagogik, skrivas mer genusneutral barnlitteratur och att det bör forskas mer på området. / The purpose of this study is to investigate how teachers can work with gender pedagogy using gender-neutral children's literature. Research indicates that children knows early what is expected of them because of their gender. The Swedish curriculum (Lgr 11) advocates that the teacher should counteract the traditional gender patterns while influencing and shaping students' perception of what is typical for men and women. In order to do this, it is necessary to teach the students in gender education. Children are affected by all the impressions that surround them, why children's books are a good starting point in the conversation about gender, among other things. The method is to initially make an inventory of completely gender-neutral children's books published in Sweden, in order to analyze a selection of these, both separately and comparatively. After the analysis, an ethnographic study is implemented, where a teacher is reading aloud and the class has a book-talk, which results in discussions about the importance of belonging to a gender. The study shows that finding acceptance for differences and go against the norms is becoming more complicated the older the children are. The conclusion is that it should be more education in gender pedagogy; more gender-neutral children's literature and that more research should be done in this area.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the evolution of children's historical fiction dealing with World War II in order to describe the changes that have occurred over the past 50 years. Two questions were asked in the study: (1) Has the characterization of protagonists portrayed in historical fiction about World War H evolved since 1943? and (2) Have the accounts of the events of World War H portrayed in historical fiction evolved since 1943? Content analysis was used as the method of collecting data. The sample consisted of 86 novels written from 1943 to 1993. Upon completing the reading and coding, the researcher discussed the categories and questions posed. As part of analysis, the discussion of the novels in each period was accompanied with an overview of trends in children's literature and events affecting society. The analysis led to the following conclusions: 1. Authors were impacted by changes in the social and political climate, as evidenced by the changes in the gender of the protagonists, an increase of violence, and the inclusion of women. 2. Novels written during the 1980s and 1990s were written with a stronger American perspective. 3. At the time that an increase of violence was seen in American society, descriptions of World War II events and protagonists' actions became more violent and more graphic. 4. Though the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki ended the war with Japan, an inadequacy still exists in the number of novels that provide readers with details related to the atomic bombs. Though much of World War II was fought in the Pacific Rim, a deficiency remains in the number of novels set in Pacific Rim countries. Recommendations for further research include performing a study that examines other genres, analyzing the changes observed in the portrayal of protagonists. A study could be conducted to analyze the author's ethnicity and relationship to the war and determine if differences exist.

<p>This corpus-based study examines adjectives and adjectival expressions used to describe characters in British children’s fiction. The focus is on diachronic variation, by comparing Victorian (19th-century) and contemporary (late 20th-century) children’s fiction, and on gender variation, by comparing the descriptions of female and male characters. I adopt a qualitative as well as a quantitative approach, and consider factors such as lexical diversity, adjectival density, collocation patterns, evaluative meaning, syntactic function and distribution across semantic domains. Most findings are related to a dichotomy set up between an idealistic and a realistic portrayal of characters. The study shows that an idealistic portrayal of characters is typical of the Victorian material and a realistic portrayal of characters typical of the contemporary material. Further, gender differences are much more pronounced, and reflect traditional gender role patterns more in the Victorian material than in the contemporary material. For instance, a pleasant appearance is typically described for Victorian female characters and social position for Victorian male characters. Moreover, descriptions of mental properties of Victorian female characters are conspicuously rare. Such gendered patterns are less distinct in the contemporary material, although appearance is still more extensively described for female than male characters. As regards how the qualities are attributed to characters, the descriptions of Victorian female characters were found to be the most formulaic compared to the descriptions of Victorian male, contemporary female and contemporary male characters.</p>