Death in literature and culture for children, or about problems of chil-dren’s thanatology Cover Image

Śmierć w literaturze i kulturze dziecięcej, czyli o problemach dziecięcej tanatologii
Death in literature and culture for children, or about problems of chil-dren’s thanatology

Author(s): Lidia Urbańczyk
Subject(s): Social Sciences, Language and Literature Studies, Education, Studies of Literature, Theory of Literature
Published by: Fundacja „dzień dobry! kolektyw kultury”
Keywords: suffering; fiction; literature for children and young people; popular science literature; realism

Summary/Abstract: In the literature for children and young people have always existed taboo topics. One of them is the problem of death and suffering. Topics considered by an adult to be difficult, it doesn’t have to be this same for a child, and art and appropriately selected stories can help tame the fears, troublesome thoughts (in line with the "pedagogy of death", in line with the "literature of darkness"). To "sad fairy tale" need to enable classic fairy tales created, eg. by the Brothers Grimm, as well as contemporary postmodern fairy tales (texts by Neil Gaiman). But books related to death and suffering are not only works of art (richly illustrated), but also popular scientific publications. The purpose of these texts is to present the child death issues, assistance in coming to terms with the loss and pain. Adult must show child the world as a whole, without undue simplifications to create humans of a certain sensibility, capable of empathy and understanding. The literature teaches how to called emotions and choose what valu-able.

  • Issue Year: 2/2015
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 61-79
  • Page Count: 19
  • Language: Polish