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From Mythic to Linear: Time in Children's Literature
Author(s): Maria Nikolajeva (Author)
- Publisher: Scarecrow Press
- Publication Date: 10 Jan. 2000
- Language: English
- Print length: 320 pages
- ISBN-10: 0810837137
- ISBN-13: 9780810837133
Book Description
In this approach to text typology, Maria Nikolajeva examines the depiction of time in literature for children. She identifies a continuum of texts ranging from those that depict non-linear time, typical of archaic, or mythical, thought, to those that express linearity, typical of contemporary mainstream literature. She argues that literature is a deconstruction, a displacement, of myth, and that it depicts a symbolic coming-of-age process rather than a strictly representational reflection of a concrete “reality”. The texts are categorized by the degree to which the coming-of-age process is accomplished; the movement is from an initial condition of primary harmony (Arcadia, Paradise, Utopia) and moves through different stages toward either a successful or a failed passage. The study encompasses a number of children’s novels from different epochs and countries, contributing a better knowledge of children’s literature from different parts of the world.
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
Maria Nikolajeva is Professor of Comparative Literature at Stockholm University in Stockholm, Sweden. She was the president of the International Research Society for Children’s Literature 1993-97. She has also been member of the North American Children’s Literature Association since 1985 and has served on its International Committee.
