Children's Literature and the Fin de Siecle

The close of a century invites both retrospection and prognostication. As a period of transition it also brings a sense of uncertainty finality and apocalypticism. These feelings stem from various events such as political turmoil scientific advancements and social change. As might be expected literature reflects such changes and the feelings they engender. But perhaps more surprisingly children''s literature is especially sensitive to such matters and fiction for children often struggles with dark and unpleasant issues. This book examines fin de sicle tensions in 19th- and 20th-century children''s literature from around the world.Each chapter is written by an expert contributor and the volume ranges over a disparate variety of topics. These include poetry series books pacifist fiction gender issues religion and literature eco-criticism minority experiences humor and the Holocaust fantasy and science fiction and computer culture. In exploring these issues in relation to children''s literature the contributors reveal the shifting nature of our values and the world in which we live. Global in nature the chapters look at children''s literature from such places as Germany Holland the United Kingdom Australia and the United States.