The Child, Nature and the Urban in Children's Literature
The so-called ‘classics’ of Children’s Literature – written during the massive process of urbanization in the Western world – almost never have a city as their background. On the contrary, they tend to radicalize the link between childhood and the natural landscape as the only condition for childhoo...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of Bologna
2019-07-01
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| Series: | Encyclopaideia |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://encp.unibo.it/article/view/9691 |
| _version_ | 1818278932414201856 |
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| author | Giorgia Grilli |
| author_facet | Giorgia Grilli |
| author_sort | Giorgia Grilli |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The so-called ‘classics’ of Children’s Literature – written during the massive process of urbanization in the Western world – almost never have a city as their background. On the contrary, they tend to radicalize the link between childhood and the natural landscape as the only condition for childhood to be such. The Romantic legacy associating the child to nature makes it impossible for us to see children comfortably inhabiting the city and has even brought – in the massively urbanized world of our times – some scholars to theorize the disappearance of childhood. If we want to imagine (and hopefully design) cities that can actually be dealt with by children, we have to become aware of the symbolic projections that, as a culture, we tend to associate to children, and we have to start to ‘naturalize’ their presence also in the urban, as some authors and illustrators of children’s books do. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-12T23:25:17Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6b369598d815491faf8759a5ba67a601 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1590-492X 1825-8670 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-12T23:25:17Z |
| publishDate | 2019-07-01 |
| publisher | University of Bologna |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Encyclopaideia |
| spelling | doaj.art-6b369598d815491faf8759a5ba67a6012022-12-22T00:08:07ZengUniversity of BolognaEncyclopaideia1590-492X1825-86702019-07-012354659110.6092/issn.1825-8670/96918270The Child, Nature and the Urban in Children's LiteratureGiorgia GrilliThe so-called ‘classics’ of Children’s Literature – written during the massive process of urbanization in the Western world – almost never have a city as their background. On the contrary, they tend to radicalize the link between childhood and the natural landscape as the only condition for childhood to be such. The Romantic legacy associating the child to nature makes it impossible for us to see children comfortably inhabiting the city and has even brought – in the massively urbanized world of our times – some scholars to theorize the disappearance of childhood. If we want to imagine (and hopefully design) cities that can actually be dealt with by children, we have to become aware of the symbolic projections that, as a culture, we tend to associate to children, and we have to start to ‘naturalize’ their presence also in the urban, as some authors and illustrators of children’s books do.https://encp.unibo.it/article/view/9691letteratura per l’infanziacittànaturainfanziaromanticismo |
| spellingShingle | Giorgia Grilli The Child, Nature and the Urban in Children's Literature Encyclopaideia letteratura per l’infanzia città natura infanzia romanticismo |
| title | The Child, Nature and the Urban in Children's Literature |
| title_full | The Child, Nature and the Urban in Children's Literature |
| title_fullStr | The Child, Nature and the Urban in Children's Literature |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Child, Nature and the Urban in Children's Literature |
| title_short | The Child, Nature and the Urban in Children's Literature |
| title_sort | child nature and the urban in children s literature |
| topic | letteratura per l’infanzia città natura infanzia romanticismo |
| url | https://encp.unibo.it/article/view/9691 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT giorgiagrilli thechildnatureandtheurbaninchildrensliterature AT giorgiagrilli childnatureandtheurbaninchildrensliterature |