What is the appeal of poetry written for children for children? : a study of children's relationship with poetry

• Main Author: Lambirth, Andrew
• Published: University College London (University of London) 2004
• Subjects: 375
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.535757

This thesis explores the appeal that a sample of children's poetry has for a group of thirty children in their final year of primary school in the United Kingdom. It examines this appeal within a socio-historical context that perceives literature written for children as playing an important role within a 'developmental state' (Lee, 2001) - a State where children are seen as sites of investment and as 'human becomings'. The thesis argues that the literature written for children forms part of the discourse that has historically attempted to define, manage and maintain contemporary conceptualisations of childhood. Within this context of adult society's ideological claim over literature written for children - including poetry - the study explores the nature of the appeal the texts generate for a class of ll-year olds. Through the use of a triangulation of case studies, the enquiry investigates how this appeal reflects children's own understanding of their childness (Hollindale, 1997). It will argue that although children's literature continues to be written for a variety of adult purposes, children are able to manage the messages and meanings found within the poetry and create their own pleasures from the texts with which they engage, rejecting those that they individually dislike.