tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26093079.post3324336887926649279..comments2023-09-25T13:41:12.977+01:00Comments on Brave New Words: IBBY ConferenceB.J. Epsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07564748493196230467noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26093079.post-76647792066489262642008-10-03T10:25:00.000+01:002008-10-03T10:25:00.000+01:00Thanks again for your comments.Helena, that site s...Thanks again for your comments.<BR/>Helena, that site sounds interesting, but I don't think my Portuguese is good enough!<BR/>Also, yes, how far books go towards being politically correct is a tricky subject -- see today's post for more information on that!<BR/><BR/>Best wishes,<BR/>BJB.J. Epsteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07564748493196230467noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26093079.post-85972155122586761772008-10-01T22:18:00.000+01:002008-10-01T22:18:00.000+01:00This reminds me of all the rewritten fairytales I'...This reminds me of all the rewritten fairytales I've seen where they turn a male protagonist into a female so that little girls don't grow up to feel like they have to sit around waiting for a prince to rescue them. Personally (as a woman) I think the effort is misplaced. I think you would do better to teach little girls to relate to the protagonist, whether male or female, and not just to characters who have the same gender as the child.<BR/><BR/>The political angle of books is another matter. No one grows up objectively free of political messages. All kinds of books should be available, but I view this as far more the parents' role in selecting the kinds of books they want their children to read. Well, especially little children. Once the kids are old enough to pick their own books, I suppose parents and librarians and peers can help them choose.<BR/><BR/>It's an interesting topic!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26093079.post-14498502424276621622008-10-01T11:45:00.000+01:002008-10-01T11:45:00.000+01:00Hello again.If you can read Portuguese, you might ...Hello again.<BR/>If you can read Portuguese, you might be interested in this website:<BR/><BR/>Casa da Leitura (House of Reading)<BR/>http://www.casadaleitura.org/<BR/>It's by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundantion(Lisbon) and focuses mainly on children's lit in Portuguese language (not just from Portugal) and also has a section on foreign editions - it might be interesting to get an idea of how foreign children's lit is seen from this side of Europe.<BR/>There are many cool links to weblogs by famous writers and other websites.<BR/>The books are divided into groups according to their target readers -(i.e - age/language level).<BR/>Enjoy it!<BR/><BR/>Best wishes,<BR/>Helenahgphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09460264158054589456noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26093079.post-17219677636663854752008-09-30T20:18:00.000+01:002008-09-30T20:18:00.000+01:00Thank you both for your comments. As you can imagi...Thank you both for your comments. As you can imagine, I agree!<BR/>Helena, no, I never heard about that regarding the books in eastern Europe, but it sounds very interesting. I would like to learn more about it.<BR/>I do think we have to be aware of positions of power when it comes to children's lit -- the power of the authors, editors, translators, publishers, teachers, and other adults over the children. Children's literature is a powerful thing, but the power shouldn't be abused. And we should be wary of people who want to make children's literature an ideological thing.<BR/><BR/>Best wishes,<BR/>BJB.J. Epsteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07564748493196230467noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26093079.post-44630585081683849992008-09-30T14:43:00.000+01:002008-09-30T14:43:00.000+01:00Hi!I agree with the both of you, children's litera...Hi!<BR/><BR/>I agree with the both of you, children's literature must not be underrated, and an IBBY Conference should be more open to different points of view.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26093079.post-25293448244567672202008-09-30T13:48:00.000+01:002008-09-30T13:48:00.000+01:00Hello BJ,First of all let me thank you for answeri...Hello BJ,<BR/>First of all let me thank you for answering my previous comment.<BR/>Childrens literature is quite an interesting subject. I have never translated any childrens books, but I have translated scripts of cartoon shows, which I also adapted for dubbing into European Portuguese.<BR/>All the cartoon shows I got appeared to be quite superficial at first, but as I translated more and adapted more episodes, I found some "hidden" ethnical jokes and some "hidden" sexual remarks.<BR/>I had a brief experience as an elementary school teacher, and children certainly don't need to be taught this kind of jokes, they can come up with similar ones on their own, and that's why the role of childrens literature should be emphasized.<BR/>Some years ago I read a report about childrens literature in eastern Europe, where they said that whereas in some countries the first world war was portrayed as something terrible in others it was conveyed as something necessary, and that while in the first group of countries the people and the events leading up to this war were depicted as "criminals", in the second one they were presented as heroes.<BR/>Now that so many eastern european countries have joined the EU, I wonder how the situation evolved.<BR/>Most certainly they already started writing on other topics...<BR/>Do you know anything about this?<BR/>Nevertheless, I believe that the "power" of this type of literature should not be so underrated; after all the first books we read as children have an impact on the way our ideas start to develop...hgphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09460264158054589456noreply@blogger.com