Cultural diversity in textbooks and children’s literature in Italy (1980-2000). Breakthrough or continuity?

The paper intends to study the construction of the childhood imagination on diversity starting from two different sources and narratives, aware of the fact that they have equally contributed to picturing and shaping ideas and images of one other on young minds. The contribution’s main aim is to high...

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Main Author: Maria Lucenti
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Bologna 2022-05-01
Series:Educazione Interculturale
Subjects:
Online Access:https://educazione-interculturale.unibo.it/article/view/14974
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author Maria Lucenti
author_facet Maria Lucenti
author_sort Maria Lucenti
collection DOAJ
description The paper intends to study the construction of the childhood imagination on diversity starting from two different sources and narratives, aware of the fact that they have equally contributed to picturing and shaping ideas and images of one other on young minds. The contribution’s main aim is to highlight how cultural diversity has been represented in formal and informal education, through the analysis of textbooks and children’s literature. To this end, Italian textbooks and novels published from the 1980s to 2000 have been selected in order to retrace cultural changes at a historical level and how both school and children's literature have responded to the challenges of an increasingly culturally heterogeneous society. The analysis showed that while the best children’s literature offers alternatives and intercultural models to the young readers who know how to recognize and choose a good story establishing a rupture with the representations conveyed in the texts and novels of previous decades. Textbooks, for their part, are placed in continuity, they are slow to recognise and value cultural diversity.
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spelling doaj.art-a34e1adbfc9145799cee48df810c031e2022-12-22T00:21:06ZengUniversity of BolognaEducazione Interculturale2420-81752022-05-012019510610.6092/issn.2420-8175/1497413306Cultural diversity in textbooks and children’s literature in Italy (1980-2000). Breakthrough or continuity?Maria Lucenti0Univerty of HamburgThe paper intends to study the construction of the childhood imagination on diversity starting from two different sources and narratives, aware of the fact that they have equally contributed to picturing and shaping ideas and images of one other on young minds. The contribution’s main aim is to highlight how cultural diversity has been represented in formal and informal education, through the analysis of textbooks and children’s literature. To this end, Italian textbooks and novels published from the 1980s to 2000 have been selected in order to retrace cultural changes at a historical level and how both school and children's literature have responded to the challenges of an increasingly culturally heterogeneous society. The analysis showed that while the best children’s literature offers alternatives and intercultural models to the young readers who know how to recognize and choose a good story establishing a rupture with the representations conveyed in the texts and novels of previous decades. Textbooks, for their part, are placed in continuity, they are slow to recognise and value cultural diversity.https://educazione-interculturale.unibo.it/article/view/14974cultural diversitytextbookschildren’s literatureimaginarystereotypes
spellingShingle Maria Lucenti
Cultural diversity in textbooks and children’s literature in Italy (1980-2000). Breakthrough or continuity?
Educazione Interculturale
cultural diversity
textbooks
children’s literature
imaginary
stereotypes
title Cultural diversity in textbooks and children’s literature in Italy (1980-2000). Breakthrough or continuity?
title_full Cultural diversity in textbooks and children’s literature in Italy (1980-2000). Breakthrough or continuity?
title_fullStr Cultural diversity in textbooks and children’s literature in Italy (1980-2000). Breakthrough or continuity?
title_full_unstemmed Cultural diversity in textbooks and children’s literature in Italy (1980-2000). Breakthrough or continuity?
title_short Cultural diversity in textbooks and children’s literature in Italy (1980-2000). Breakthrough or continuity?
title_sort cultural diversity in textbooks and children s literature in italy 1980 2000 breakthrough or continuity
topic cultural diversity
textbooks
children’s literature
imaginary
stereotypes
url https://educazione-interculturale.unibo.it/article/view/14974
work_keys_str_mv AT marialucenti culturaldiversityintextbooksandchildrensliteratureinitaly19802000breakthroughorcontinuity