123211 VO Literatures in English (2012S)

This lecture class will be concerned with international literature written for young readers in the English language. We will look both at some great classics of British and American literature from the 19th and 20th centuries and at more recent prize winners and bestsellers, combining textual analysis with cultural studies and a range of literary theories. Questions that will be addressed in the lecture concern the multiple readership of children's literature, political correctness and critical pedagogies, issues of gender, ethnicity and class, the market for children's and young adults' literature, the visual element in children's literature (especially picture books) as well as aspects of teaching these texts in the English language classroom. It is especially (but not exclusively) recommended for future teachers of English!