British Children’s Literature in the 20th Century

An open vintage children’s book lying on striped bed sheets, showing a scene from a British story with a teddy bear and child being launched from a toy box

Course Dates

Key Features

Welcome week (Week 0)

Purpose:

personal introductions
introducing the course
useful reading
personal objectives

Learning outcomes:

By studying this week, the students should have:

become familiar with navigating around the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) and from VLE to links and back
test your ability to access files and the web conferencing software and sort out any problems with the help of the Technology Enhanced Learning team
learn how to look for, assess and reference internet resources
contribute to a discussion forum to introduce yourself to other students and discuss why you are interested in the course and what you hope to get out of your studies

Teaching Week 1: Golden Ages and New Girls (1900-1914)

Purpose:

This week will introduce and consider British children’s fiction published between 1900-1914. This was something of a “golden age” in children’s literature, where many of the titles published are still considered as classics now, along with the rise of the school story and the birth of children’s literature as we recognise it today. We will consider how golden age fiction celebrated a particular idea of both child and childhood, the newly felt impact of girls as a readership, and the associated rise of the boarding school story.

Learning outcomes:

to understand how educational and cultural reforms impacted upon the rise of popular children’s fiction for girls
to identify some of the key characteristics of golden age children’s literature
to examine how golden age children’s literature constructed the child

Teaching Week 2: The War Years (1914-18 & 1939-1945)

Purpose:

This week will look at children’s fiction published during the First and Second World Wars. We will explore the fierce patriotism of the First World War, with all its legacy of empire and colonialism, before then comparing this against the patriotism of the Second World War. We will also discuss how authors approached writing in wartime and how children’s literature came to function as a form of support and resistance for its readers.

Learning outcomes:

to recognise some of the differences between children’s literature published in World War One and World War Two
to analyse how some authors for children approached their writing in wartime.
to understand how children’s fiction both contributed to and challenged the ‘home front’ national identity

Teaching Week 3: New Beginnings and Radical Leanings (1950+)

Purpose:

The post-war period saw a period of radicalism in children’s literature, with many new imprints being formed by publishers in order to explore a brave new world. We will consider how these imprints and their editors influenced post-war publishing and helped generate a new form of golden age literature. We shall also consider the foregrounding of representation and social diversity within children’s literature, how authors dealt with the legacy of their own and their reader’s wartime experiences, and the rise of the fantastical in children’s fiction.

Learning outcomes:

to consider how editors and post-war imprints guided and formed public taste
to recognise how authors for children dealt with the legacy of individual and collective war experience
to understand the impact of changing ideas around children and childhood upon children’s literature

Teaching Week 4: The Recession, the Natural and the Fantastical (1970+)

Purpose:

This week will consider how children’s publishing navigated the heightened political and personal circumstances of the 1970s. We will look at the rise of young adult literature and consider how the social and cultural movements of the wider world, such as financial austerity, impacted upon publishing for young people. We will also consider how authors looked towards the natural world for inspiration and how this interacted with ideas of the political.

Learning outcomes:

to describe some of the differences between children’s and young adult literature
to consider the role of the “political” within children’s literature
to analyse some extracts of nature writing within children’s literature

Teaching Week 5: A New Golden Age? (1990-2000)

Purpose:

The final decade of the 20th Century saw British children’s literature experience something of a cultural boom with the publication of titles such as the Northern Lights series by Phillip Pullman, the Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling and the assertion of another “golden age”. Discussion also turned to issues of diversity and representation and publishing became increasingly big business. Students will consider the relationship between the industry and creativity, issues of representation within children’s literature, and how the children’s literature of this period talks back to what has come before.

Learning outcomes:

to consider diversity and representation in children’s literature and in particular “Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors” (Dr Rudine Sims Bishop, 1990)
to recognise and explain some of the overarching themes in children’s publishing of the twentieth century
to consider the “golden age” of the nineties in relation to previous golden age periods