Why Are They So Afraid of Children’s Books? The Subversive Power of Imagination (Part 1)

Olga Bukhina

doi:10.32798/dlk.163

Published: 2019-12-31

Vol. 1 No. 2 (2019)

Why Are They So Afraid of Children’s Books? The Subversive Power of Imagination (Part 1)

Olga Bukhina

Dzieciństwo. Literatura i Kultura

Section: Varia

https://doi.org/10.32798/dlk.163

Abstract

The article discusses the subversive power of children’s books as it is expressed in many classical and contemporary works for young readers. Starting with a brief psychological explanation of the source of creativity and playfulness in children’s literature, the author uses a Bakhtinian approach in analysing the carnivalesque quality of these books in their ability to create a topsy-turvy world, to use ‘a festive laughter,’ to present grotesque bodily transformations, and to discuss the lower stratum bodily functions such as food consumption and excretion. Many adults often underestimate the power of children’s literature, and at the same time, some books are considered dangerous; therefore, they need to be protected from various attempts to censor or to ban them as unappropriated for children.

Keywords:

banned books, carnivalesque, censorship, children’s and young adult literature, Mikhail Bakhtin, subversiveness

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Bukhina, O. (2019). Why Are They So Afraid of Children’s Books? The Subversive Power of Imagination (Part 1). Dzieciństwo. Literatura I Kultura, 1(2), 170–187. https://doi.org/10.32798/dlk.163

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Olga Bukhina

bukhina.olga@gmail.com
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6187-8074

Affiliation:

independent scholar United States

Bio Statement (e.g., department and rank)

Olga Bukhina – MA, is a translator, writer, and independent scholar. Her research interests include American and Russian children’s literature, the images of orphans and death in children’s books, and the history of translation of children’s literature. Contact: bukhina.olga@gmail.com.