Introduction: Exploding the Nuclear Family
Chapter
Published version
Date
2023Metadata
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- Institutt for lærerutdanning [3495]
- Publikasjoner fra CRIStin - NTNU [37763]
Original version
10.4324/9781003269663-1Abstract
Fictional families, like families in real life, seem to be brittle and precarious things, prone to fracturing and fragmenting. Whilst there are obviously examples of happy, healthy nuclear families in children's literature from all decades, it is clear that from the mid-twentieth century onwards, authors of children's and young adult literature have sought to reflect with greater verisimilitude the realities of family life in all its varied shapes and forms. For many decades, only a narrow range of familial experiences was ‘reflected’ in children's literature, denying many children the affirming experience of seeing families just like theirs. Bishop notes that ‘when children cannot find themselves reflected in the books they read, or when the images they see are distorted, negative, or laughable, they learn a powerful lesson about how they are devalued in the society of which they are a part’.