y separately published work icon Children's Literature in Education periodical issue   peer reviewed assertion
Issue Details: First known date: 2004... vol. 35 no. 4 December 2004 of Children's Literature in Education est. 1970 Children's Literature in Education
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Contents

* Contents derived from the , 2004 version. Please note that other versions/publications may contain different contents. See the Publication Details.
Subversion or Socialization? : Humour and Carnival in Morris Gleitzman's Texts, Kathryn James , single work criticism
"Like their counterparts elsewhere, Australian children favour humorous novels; comedic writers consistently dominate the preteen and early teen fiction market in Australia. Regardless of its popularity, however, in comparison to more serious writing, humorous literature has received little critical attention. Of the studies aimed at this area, most have tended to concentrate on the various stages of development in childrens preferences for humor, its strategies, forms and appeal, with very few examining the ideological assumptions informing particular texts. Yet, this article argues, humorous books are no less concerned with culture, value and meaning than any other kind of fiction for children. As Morris Gleitzmans texts illustrate, by highlighting the cultural processes involved in the construction of language and meaning, inviting readers to play with ideas about language, social roles and behaviors, and creating characters who act in ways which are oppositional to usual socializing expectations, humorous literature, especially in carnivalized forms, has the potential to problematize unquestioning acceptance of various ideological para-digms, values, social practices and rules."
(p. 367-379)
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