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From: Monica Edinger <monicaedinger>
Date: Mon, 25 Jul 2005 08:42:06 -0400
I appreciated very much Thom's reflections on this topic. It reminded me of how important it is to keep in mind all that young readers bring to their transactions with texts. I'm thinking in particular about reader response theory as espoused by Louise Rosenblatt. So when girls, for example, read the pink princess books they are bringing a great deal to their readings. They may be thinking Brittany, American Idol, cliques, and so much more. And so as they read they are also dealing with daily social stuff at home and school, what they see and hear in popular culture (loved the small touch in the new Charlie and the Chocolate Factor movie of one of the girls sidling up to the other and both agreeing to be each others "best" friend as they walk into the factory) which affects what they bring and take away from even the prissiest pink princess book or, at the other end, the most macho book
(say, arguably, the Alex Rider books).
One genre where these issues are beautifully and powerfully explored is fantasy. Off the top of my head I think of Ursula Le Guin, Garth Nix, Tamara Pierce, Philip Pullman, Jonathan Stroud, Diana Wynne Jones, Jane Yolen and Philip Reeves as authors who all imaginatively consider gender roles and perceptions in their works. (I'll hold off on Harry Potter till next month, but I think there are very interesting things going on with those books in terms of their stories, how they are read, and their place in popular culture genderwise.)
Monica
Monica Edinger The Dalton School New York NY edinger at dalton.org monicaedinger at gmail.com
Received on Mon 25 Jul 2005 07:42:06 AM CDT
Date: Mon, 25 Jul 2005 08:42:06 -0400
I appreciated very much Thom's reflections on this topic. It reminded me of how important it is to keep in mind all that young readers bring to their transactions with texts. I'm thinking in particular about reader response theory as espoused by Louise Rosenblatt. So when girls, for example, read the pink princess books they are bringing a great deal to their readings. They may be thinking Brittany, American Idol, cliques, and so much more. And so as they read they are also dealing with daily social stuff at home and school, what they see and hear in popular culture (loved the small touch in the new Charlie and the Chocolate Factor movie of one of the girls sidling up to the other and both agreeing to be each others "best" friend as they walk into the factory) which affects what they bring and take away from even the prissiest pink princess book or, at the other end, the most macho book
(say, arguably, the Alex Rider books).
One genre where these issues are beautifully and powerfully explored is fantasy. Off the top of my head I think of Ursula Le Guin, Garth Nix, Tamara Pierce, Philip Pullman, Jonathan Stroud, Diana Wynne Jones, Jane Yolen and Philip Reeves as authors who all imaginatively consider gender roles and perceptions in their works. (I'll hold off on Harry Potter till next month, but I think there are very interesting things going on with those books in terms of their stories, how they are read, and their place in popular culture genderwise.)
Monica
Monica Edinger The Dalton School New York NY edinger at dalton.org monicaedinger at gmail.com
Received on Mon 25 Jul 2005 07:42:06 AM CDT
