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Tight Times and Poverty
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From: Angie Miles <readingam_at_prodigy.net>
Date: Thu, 12 May 2011 10:26:26 -0700 (PDT)
Megan
I LOVE your question as well as the direction of the discussion. When I indicated that poverty or lack seem more pervasive in literature than I'd f irst considered, I wasn't necessarily thinking historically. Adding this dimension makes the discussion that much more compelling.
Thinking back, certainly many classics written for adults and/or young adul ts are all about poverty and class and trying to get a foothold or find a p lace in a world of material comfort. Dickens and Steinbeck addressed the mes of class and money repeatedly.
Whenever I consider money in literature I ALWAYS think of D. H. Lawrence's short story The Rockinghorse Winner and hear the whispered refrain, "...the re must be more money, there must be more money..."
But as you make your point and ask your new question, I'm thinking about ch ildren's and YA literature specifically, and yes... what an excellent quest ion! Certainly when the first McGuffey Readers came out in the early 180 0s, with their emphasis on childhood virtues... and well into the days of S ally, Dick and Jane with the polished, middle class sensibilities... there was no hint at poverty or need in books written for or used by children. Beyond text designed for reading instruction, I believe older children's p icture books were by and about middle class individuals, with the exception of fairy tales and nursery rhymes meant to address the plight of the have- nots or those down on their luck... such as Hansel and Gretel, The Elves an d the Shoemaker, and Old Mother Hubbard.
I do believe that poverty as a theme is much more pervasive in children's/Y A lit today... and I'm having to stretch my memory, my literary knowledge a nd my imagination to think about how and why that change occurred. Hazen 's Tight Times certainly addressed financial struggle more directly than ma ny if not any children's picture books of the time. But what precipitate d Tight Times? What hardship-related works came before? Just how co mmonplace is the theme over the past couple of decades?
What was already an interesting topic is for me even more enthralling. T hank you!
Angie Miles www.happyreading.org
Received on Thu 12 May 2011 10:26:26 AM CDT
Date: Thu, 12 May 2011 10:26:26 -0700 (PDT)
Megan
I LOVE your question as well as the direction of the discussion. When I indicated that poverty or lack seem more pervasive in literature than I'd f irst considered, I wasn't necessarily thinking historically. Adding this dimension makes the discussion that much more compelling.
Thinking back, certainly many classics written for adults and/or young adul ts are all about poverty and class and trying to get a foothold or find a p lace in a world of material comfort. Dickens and Steinbeck addressed the mes of class and money repeatedly.
Whenever I consider money in literature I ALWAYS think of D. H. Lawrence's short story The Rockinghorse Winner and hear the whispered refrain, "...the re must be more money, there must be more money..."
But as you make your point and ask your new question, I'm thinking about ch ildren's and YA literature specifically, and yes... what an excellent quest ion! Certainly when the first McGuffey Readers came out in the early 180 0s, with their emphasis on childhood virtues... and well into the days of S ally, Dick and Jane with the polished, middle class sensibilities... there was no hint at poverty or need in books written for or used by children. Beyond text designed for reading instruction, I believe older children's p icture books were by and about middle class individuals, with the exception of fairy tales and nursery rhymes meant to address the plight of the have- nots or those down on their luck... such as Hansel and Gretel, The Elves an d the Shoemaker, and Old Mother Hubbard.
I do believe that poverty as a theme is much more pervasive in children's/Y A lit today... and I'm having to stretch my memory, my literary knowledge a nd my imagination to think about how and why that change occurred. Hazen 's Tight Times certainly addressed financial struggle more directly than ma ny if not any children's picture books of the time. But what precipitate d Tight Times? What hardship-related works came before? Just how co mmonplace is the theme over the past couple of decades?
What was already an interesting topic is for me even more enthralling. T hank you!
Angie Miles www.happyreading.org
Received on Thu 12 May 2011 10:26:26 AM CDT
