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Fabelns väg till barnlitteraturen : Från Camerarius till Hey

Zillén, Erik LU orcid (2022) In Barnboken. Tidskrift för barnlitteraturforskning 45. p.1-21
Abstract
With the emergence of children’s literature in the modern sense in the eighteenth century, new genres of literature especially intended for young readers came into being. In addition, several well established genres, one of which was the Aesopic fable, were adapted and redirected to augment the growing children’s library. Focussing partly on a Scandinavian context, this article outlines fable’s evolution from a genre used in the teaching of classical languages in schools to a literary kind deliberately designed for young readers in their mother tongue. Specifically, it identifies Jean de La Fontaine’s and Antoine Houdart de La Motte’s making of a poetically advanced fable aimed at a readership of adults as a major impetus for the... (More)
With the emergence of children’s literature in the modern sense in the eighteenth century, new genres of literature especially intended for young readers came into being. In addition, several well established genres, one of which was the Aesopic fable, were adapted and redirected to augment the growing children’s library. Focussing partly on a Scandinavian context, this article outlines fable’s evolution from a genre used in the teaching of classical languages in schools to a literary kind deliberately designed for young readers in their mother tongue. Specifically, it identifies Jean de La Fontaine’s and Antoine Houdart de La Motte’s making of a poetically advanced fable aimed at a readership of adults as a major impetus for the transition; the targeting of a particular age group was thus far unknown in the history of the genre, and it inspired educatively engaged authors to adopt the countermove of constructing a fable specifically addressed to children. The process of generic transformation was accompanied by debates on fable’s suitability as children’s literature, in which arguments put forward in Émile, ou de l’Éducation (1762) played an important role. Somewhat paradoxically, though, Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s critical opinion of the genre stimulated the invention of a fable distinctly formulated for young readers, reaching one of its high points in Johann Wilhelm Hey’s Fünfzig Fabeln für Kinder (1833). (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
alternative title
Fable’s Route to Children’s Literature : From Camerarius to Hey
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
aisopisk fabel, barnlitteratur, 1700-tal, språkundervisning, översättning, åldersdifferentiering
in
Barnboken. Tidskrift för barnlitteraturforskning
volume
45
pages
21 pages
publisher
Svenska Barnboksinstitutet
external identifiers
  • scopus:85130728292
ISSN
2000-4389
language
Swedish
LU publication?
yes
additional info
Original title: Fabelns väg till barnlitteraturen: Från Camerarius till Hey
id
ad432359-7f9e-4d8c-880e-ea774cd50fd5
alternative location
https://barnboken.net/index.php/clr/article/view/675/2127
date added to LUP
2022-01-26 18:56:58
date last changed
2023-10-10 09:32:34
@article{ad432359-7f9e-4d8c-880e-ea774cd50fd5,
  abstract     = {{With the emergence of children’s literature in the modern sense in the eighteenth century, new genres of literature especially intended for young readers came into being. In addition, several well established genres, one of which was the Aesopic fable, were adapted and redirected to augment the growing children’s library. Focussing partly on a Scandinavian context, this article outlines fable’s evolution from a genre used in the teaching of classical languages in schools to a literary kind deliberately designed for young readers in their mother tongue. Specifically, it identifies Jean de La Fontaine’s and Antoine Houdart de La Motte’s making of a poetically advanced fable aimed at a readership of adults as a major impetus for the transition; the targeting of a particular age group was thus far unknown in the history of the genre, and it inspired educatively engaged authors to adopt the countermove of constructing a fable specifically addressed to children. The process of generic transformation was accompanied by debates on fable’s suitability as children’s literature, in which arguments put forward in Émile, ou de l’Éducation (1762) played an important role. Somewhat paradoxically, though, Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s critical opinion of the genre stimulated the invention of a fable distinctly formulated for young readers, reaching one of its high points in Johann Wilhelm Hey’s Fünfzig Fabeln für Kinder (1833).}},
  author       = {{Zillén, Erik}},
  issn         = {{2000-4389}},
  keywords     = {{aisopisk fabel; barnlitteratur; 1700-tal; språkundervisning; översättning; åldersdifferentiering}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  pages        = {{1--21}},
  publisher    = {{Svenska Barnboksinstitutet}},
  series       = {{Barnboken. Tidskrift för barnlitteraturforskning}},
  title        = {{Fabelns väg till barnlitteraturen : Från Camerarius till Hey}},
  url          = {{https://barnboken.net/index.php/clr/article/view/675/2127}},
  volume       = {{45}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}