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Five
Decades of Children's Literature in Pakistan Development
of Children's Literature in Sinhala "Golden
Garlands to the Listeners":Traditional Tales for Nepalese Children
Tagore's
Poems for Children: A Fountain of Delight and Wisdom The Controversial Amar Chitra Katha Comic Books:"The Glorious Heritage of India": Notes on the Politics of Amar Chitra Katha (Anita Mannur) o Amar Chitra Katha Comics: A Quick-Fix Culture Course for Kids (Sandhya Rao) o Amar Chitra Katha: Western Forms, Indian Contents (Sanjay Sircar) Other
Voices Regular
Features Country
Survey: Capturing a Bangladeshi Identity through Children's Books Author
Spotlight: Sybil Wettasinghe: Celebrating the Charms of Childhood International
Children's Books of Note Dear
Bookbird Reader, After independence from British colonial rule, the children's literature of each country in the subcontinent formulated a distinct voice and identity, reflecting its unique ideology and aims and drawing on its artistic, literary, and cultural traditions. The agenda of children's books was to counteract the effects of colonialism and imported books by focusing on biographies of national heroes to infuse patriotic sentiments, on traditional and religious stories to shape character and generate pride in one's heritage, and on realistic fiction to empower youth to effect social progress. The concept of a modern, creative children's literature directed specifically at young readers had begun in the nineteenth century with exposure to Western books, introduction of the printing press, and the publications of Christian missionary organizations. At first, children's publishing was an essential part of the school curriculum: required school texts and supplementary readers provided a channel for the publication of folk tales, short stories, poems, essays, and biographies. However, as Swapna Dutta's article emphasizes, it was juvenile magazines that played a vital role in the development of children's literature as a separate genre. This literature was highly moralistic and didactic, and it was not until the late 1970s that serious attention was paid to the psychological and emotional needs of the child. The articles in this issue trace the development of children's literature in Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Naima Haque's country survey emphasizes that books for Bangladeshi children incorporate folk literature, a strong political voice, and an intense love for the land and the Bengali language. C. M. Bandhu focuses on the essential task of collecting the vast fund of folk and fairy tales, creation myths, and legends associated with the founding of temples and rituals from the numerous linguistic and ethnic groups in Nepal. Raees Ahmed Mughal, writing on the Islamization of Urdu children's literature in Pakistan, argues that religious ideology is compatible with creative literature, while Mahmudur Rahman's study on humor asserts that Urdu authors also recognize the need to entertain rather than moralize. Piyaseeli Wijemanne's and Madubashini Ratnayake's articles point out that Sri Lankan authors turn to folklore and Buddhist stories, the beauty of the landscape, and the charms of village life for inspiration. Indian children's literature, which is the most developed and extensive in this region, has an impressive body of literature in English and fourteen indigenous languages.1 In recent years, Bookbird has featured several articles on contemporary writing in English, which is often influenced by British models, such as the formulaic boarding school story or the Enid Blyton-style adventures and mysteries. In this issue, we focus on the English editions of the Amar Chitra Katha comics. The articles by Anita Mannur, Sandhya Rao, and Sanjay Sircar question the literary qualities, political agenda, and multicultural representation of this popular series. According to Sanjay Sircar, "[I]t is a postcolonial irony that largely because there are so many Indian languages and because communication mechanisms between Indian scholars themselves (as well as Indian scholars and the outside world) is so poor, India-related work in English is so much easier to celebrate than the much richer, better vernacular work that exists" (email, 9 February 2000). To fill this void, Prabhat K. Singh's article on Tagore's poems and Swapna Dutta's on Bengali magazines foreground the dynamic creative writing that has taken place in Bengali since the early 1900s. Similar activity is going on in thirteen other Indian languages as well. These literatures celebrate oral traditions, reflect the richness of the language, and focus on themes based on the history and culture of the area. For nearly fifty years, children's books have continued to be published in the subcontinent. In spite of difficulties, the number of publishers and organizations devoted exclusively to children's books and children's welfare is increasing.2 There is a realization that appropriate books are needed for all age groups, in all the genres, and on a variety of subjects to address the needs and to reflect the reality of readers' lives. With an established cadre of writers, illustrators, editors, and publishers dedicated to producing aesthetically pleasing books, the children's literature of this region is confidently poised to move ahead into the future. Yours
sincerely, 1.
See K. A. Jamuna, Children's Literature in Indian Languages (New Delhi:
Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, 1982); and Sanjay Sircar,
"India," in Encyclopedia of Children's Literature, ed. Diane
Person (Detroit: Gale Research, forthcoming). |
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