Kategoriak: All - play - literature - gender - identity

arabera LUCY EVANS 17 years ago

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U212 - BOOK 3 - Children's Cultural Worlds

Children's cultural worlds are intricately shaped by play, social dynamics, and evolving patterns of inequality, such as gender roles, social class, and ethnicity. Barrie Thorne's concept of "

U212 - BOOK 3 - Children's Cultural Worlds

BLOCK 3 - Children's Cultural Worlds

Children's literature

Representation, politics & children's literature
4 main impacts on children's literature - 20th Century

Debate on the ways children are influenced by what they read

e.g. Carnegie Medal winning novel Junk (1996) focus on drugs

Children encouraged to be critical readers

Greater diversity in stories, challenging stereotypes

e.g. Contemporary princess Princess Smartypants (1988)

Wider range of authors

Books promoted + tie-ins e.g. Harry Potter

Fairy/folk/traditional tales
The Story of the Falling Star emplifies traditional story 'recovered' to appeal to contemporary readers
ZIPES (Red Riding Hood adaptation) Traditional tales are adapted historially & culturally
BRUNO BETTELHEIM - fairy tales important to children's psychological development

Sees fairy tales as an expression of children's inner fears e.g. Hansel & Gretel - fear of being abandoned by parents.

Critised - does not acknowledge that children may take different meanings from stories - or that stories change through history and in different cultural contexts.

Audio: Anne Fine - children improverished if don't read quality fiction

History of children's books
Linked to conceptions of childhood

ROMANTIC (J-J ROUSSEAU)

JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU - wrote EMILE (1762) proposed 'natural' upbringing for BOYS but concerned that GIRLS accept subservience to men & learn how to please their husbands.

Recommended Daniel Defoe's ROBINSON CRUSOE for teenagers

Saw CHILDHOOD AS A SEPARATE STATE to be valued in own right

Influenced poets such as Wordsworth, Blake & Coleridge & writers e.g. THE SECRET GAREN - Frances Hodgson Burnett, ENID BLYTON, A.A. MILNE,

Charles Kingsley: The Water Babies (1863)

Charles KINGSLEY - SOCIAL REFORMER - drew attention to children's working conditions

Tom, orphan chimney sweep, cruelly treated by aster, runs away and is transformed into water baby.

Frances Hodgeson Burnett - The Secret Garden (1911)

BLANK SLATE (John Locke)

Philosopher JOHN LOCKE wrote Some Thoughts Concerning Education (1693). Advocated that children born like 'blank slats' ready to be written upon. Recommended a more gentler and enjoyable approach to learning.

LOCKE's views influenced JOHN NEWBURY

NEWBURY published the Little Pretty Pocket-Book (1744). Written with children as readership.

Also, The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes (1765). Strong moral values but written to amuse children.

Newbury: The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes (1765)

John Newbury - Little Pretty Pocket Book (1744)

PURITAN (Wesley)

PURITAN - Encouraged by Church children thought of as sinful. Encouraged to read the Bible.

Hugh Rhodes (1545) - Book of Nurture - an early guide to childcare - children should read the Bible & other Church teachings and kept from reading fables and stories.

Alternative view to LOCKE - Mary Sherwood wrote The History of the Fairchild Family (1818) - exemplifies Wesley's view that children should be subservient to their parents & there should be a religious emphasis in families.

Mary Sherwood - The History of the Fairchild Family (1818)

Friendships

Long term significance
BAGWELL longitudinal study

BAGWELL et al studied friendships over 13 year period - established link between positive childhood friendships to quality of life in adulthood. However, this could be because of personality features.

Gendered friendships
Boys

Video: Boys Friendships - ANDY & CHET

ANDY & CHET - known each otehr since pre-school. CHET says shared interest in drawing cartoons & aikido maintains their friendship.

BOYS & GIRLS form single sex groups - boys informal - girls more tightly bound

Girls

Video: MINNA & ELIZABETH

Middle-class CHITTAGONG - Exemplifies girls friendship - close friends, met 2 years ago when Minna joined Elizabeth's school - MINNA - "we're a photocopy of each other, that's what I think"

Friends in their place
!Kung

Friendships transitory - formed with whoever available

On the street - shared hardships, mutual support

Video: Friendship -Shane, Steven & Wilfred

Neighbourhood - same social class

Video: Friendship - BILKIS & friends

CHITTAGONG - Bilkis, Taslema & Kobita playing kut-kut, shopping & making mash. Describe what friendship means to them.

School - age banded / single sex schools
Home - parents control / children of parents friends
Nature of friendships
WILLIAM CORSARO - ethnographic approach to studying children

ETHNOGRAPHIC APPROACH - studying children by extensive observation and involvement in their activities

ROBERT SELMAN - concept of friendship relates to development of social understanding

Momentary physical playmate

Children aged 3-5 define friends in terms of shared activities & geographical locations i.e school/neighbours

One-way assistance

Children 6-8 become aware of others likes & dislikes, but don't acknowledge the reciprocal nature of friendship.

Fairweather co-operation

Reciprical understanding from 9-12 years

Mutual concern

11-15 years - friendship seen as a bond built over time, made stable by mutual support

Significance
Development of identity

Play

Toys
Mass production & marketing permeated children's culture
Not necessary part of play
Social dynamics
Draws on patterns of inequality e.g. gender roles, social class & ethnicity
Social or solitary - CHILDREN CREATE OWN MEANINGS & sense of idendity

Video: My Space - SEAN, TINCO, JOSHUA

SEAN & brothers - OAKLAND - playing in tunnel in park - appeal is its scariness - boys engage in daring games

TINCO & friend - CHITTAGONG - jump on trains to nearby town

JOSHUA - CAPETOWN - creates space in imagination by reading books

Barrie THORNE - BORDERWORK ethnographic study of children's cultural worlds

BORDERWORK - term used to characerise the ways children tend to form single-sex friendship groups that create & strengthen gender boundaries.

Folklore
GUDGEON - observed new stereotype of femaleness ' girl power'
Peter & Iona OPIE

Video: Oakland+Chittagong clapping game

A Child's world
Children's engagement with customs e.g. Halloween changes over time
Perspectives
G.H. MEAD - role play develops sense of self

Video: Pretend Play

MELISSA & HADLEY - UK NURSERY - play at being parents & babies

LAURA & AALLIYAH - pretend to play lost babies

FREUD - inner world of psyche revealed through play
Learning - PIAGET - opp. for children to practice emerging skills
Historical - ROUSSEAU - free expression

Consumption & Creativity

Creation of personalised space
Use products to personalise spaces / express identity

VIDEO: Cathy & Sharon's bedroom

Bedroom has aspects of their Chinese culture along side pictures of their favourite pop stars.

The 'child market'
New technologies

Negative

Can be addictive esp. video games

Positive

Children engage with media forms as part of their everyday lives: play/friendships

Pop music

Form of self-expression - being a fan produces collective identity

AUDIO: Bilkis - music enhances her life

AUDIO: Terina 'whole world revolves around music

Comics & mags

Use as 'cultural resource' for developing friendship groups - girls read mags collectively

Children as consumers
Consumption & identity

KLINE - argues that consumption (shopping, toys, TV, music clothing) is central to socialization process

Use products to create peer culture or 'habitus'

Form friendships with others who like same products

VIDEO: Minna & Elizabeth - Chittagong

Minna & Elizabeth - VIDEO: FRIENDSHIP - Go shopping together, claim to have same taste in all things - 'we're a photocopy of each other'

Consuming culture creatively
Agency & creativity

Children are ACTIVE MEANING MAKERS - use products creatively

Defining consumption & creativity

Consumption = use of manufactured products

Multimedia Childhoods

Integrating the analysis
'Power' of media lies in interaction of Production, Texts & Audiences e.g. Pokemon

Empowerment

Use texts in their play

Games require interactivity

Market responds to demand

Exploitation

Commerical exploitation e.g. encouraged to spend on collector cards

Commercial manipulation - Marketed to appeal to children

Audiences: Children as readers
Children seen as 'active agents' of media

children actively construct what it means to be a child

Children seen as 'media literate' consumers

Easy to track visits to websites - target for advertising

Texts: Constructing children
Stephen Wagg - One I made earlier

STEPHEN WAGG argues:

Blurring of boundaries between children & 'youth' - increasing issues previously considered taboo such as sex, drugs, family break up are incorporated into children's drama (e.g. Grange Hill)

Media increasingly 'media centric' steering children to glamorous world of media rather than purposeful activity

Arguments against:

Modern versions of old format appeal to children e.g. Andy Pandy, Muffin the Mule

TV has evolved

Teletubbies is a continuation of the tradition of Watch with Mother.

Interactivity

CD Roms, internet - not just passive

Intertextuality

Texts draw on other media e.g. Simpsons, SMTV Live

Convergence

Multi-media marketing, merchandising e.g. Pokemon

Production: Targeting children
Consequence

Exploitation or empowerment?

Children seen as 'consumers'

Digital divide between rich & poor

Children access previously forbidden material

Proliferation of technology + commercially driven tv channels
Childhood & the media
JOSHUA MEYROWITZ - No sense of place (1985)

Meyrowitz (1985)

TV makes backstage behaviour visible to all

TV reveals facts that contradict social myths (e.g. see Royal family/politicians as real people

Blurs boundaries between

1. Men & women

2. Individual citizens & political representations

3. Children & adults

VIDEO: Children's TV

Reflects adults changing perceptions of children

DON TAPSCOTT (1998)

Tapscott (1998)

Childhood constructed concept. (In past children in poor families did not have a childhood).

Agrees that TV/technology has blurred boundaries between childhood & adulthood

Digital technologies are empowering – a new form of liberation e.g. children produce blog sites, publish their own websites.

Given children new skills to think about, use in their speech & play.

TV New technologies

Passive Interactive

Presents view Raises intelligence

Isolates Builds & communicates

TV generation Children hungry for

conservative expression

Hierarchical, Encourages self-

inflexible, centralised development,

savy, self-reliant &

analytical,

Globally orientated

POSTMAN - Disappearance of Childhood (1983)

ARGUES that television:

- has caused the 'death of childhood'

- is a 'total disclosure medium' - children learn 'secrets' of adult life

- blurs boundaries between childhood & adulthood - children increasingly behave like adults

- encourages precocious sexuality

(Link Sue Palmer - Toxic Childhood)

CRITICISED for

- generalizing

- not providing evidence of fundamental changes in family structures / early sexuality

- makes assumptions about childhood - draws on Aries belief that childhood was 'invented' in the Middle Ages, did not exist before then.

- assumption that making sense of tv is a natural rather than learned process

Puritan view - wants to return to traditional moral values - where adults had control