The Middle Ages in Children's Literature - (Critical Approaches to Children's Literature) by C Bradford (Hardcover)

About the Book

"From the Harry Potter series to urban fairy romance, the Middle Ages comprise a rich source of stories, symbols, characters and settings in texts for the young. The Middle Ages in Children's Literature is the first thorough study of medievalism for the young -- that is, post-medieval imaginings of the Middle Ages in fiction, non-fiction and films. In this book Clare Bradford shows that medievalism for the young both provides moments of enchantment and also serves as a distancing strategy which enables texts to address contentious and difficult topics. The Middle Ages in Children's Literature examines how changing conceptions of history have influenced the writing of historical fiction. Examining representations of disabilities, monstrous bodies, and animals, Bradford shows that medievalist texts use the medieval to reflect on modernity. The book ends with a chapter which explains why so many texts for the young treat the Middle Ages as a source of comedy"--

Book Synopsis

Children grow up surrounded by stories, motifs, characters and themes which respond to the Middle Ages. The Middle Ages in Children's Literature explores the use and abuse of the medieval in children's literature, the many forms in which it appears, and its enduring capacity to enchant the young.

Review Quotes

"In The Middle Ages in Children's Literature, Clare Bradford analyzes how the Middle Ages is depicted in children's literature ... . the broad and impressive scope of her work shows the exciting ways that critical theory can help enrich the scholarship in children's literature. ... offer readers not only a world of enchantment, but also a way to confront contemporary social questions in a space distant from the present in the present past." (Johanna Denzin, The Lion and the Unicorn, Vol. 40 (3), September, 2016)

"With admirable economy, Bradford covers a great deal of theoretical ground, applying to children's literature ideas about temporality, spatiality, and the monstrous, as well as concepts drawn from disability studies, animal studies, and humor theory. ... Full of useful insights, the book will be of much more value to those interested in Contemporary critical theory than to readers who want to know about the Middle Ages in children's literature." (Rebecca Barnhouse, Children's Literature Association Quarterly, Vol. 42, (4),2014)

'Clare Bradford's The Middle Ages in Children's Literature powerfully intervenes in the joint fields of medievalism and children's literature, exploring their mutual points of interest in recreating the historical past, as well as the present children who consume these fanciful renderings of times long gone by. Lucidly written and wonderfully detailed, Bradford's study promises that readers will never see the Middle Ages or children's literature with quite the same innocent eyes.' - Professor Tison Pugh, University of Central Florida, USA

About the Author

Clare Bradford is Professor of Literary Studies at Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia. Her books include Reading Race: Aboriginality in Australian Children's Literature (2001), Unsettling Narratives: Postcolonial Readings of Children's Literature (2007), and New World Orders in Contemporary Children's Literature: Utopian Transformations (with Kerry Mallan, John Stephens and Robyn McCallum, 2008).