Politics and Ideology in Children’s Literature ed. by Marian Thérèse Keyes and Áine McGillicuddy (review)

The introduction to Politics and Ideology in Children’s Literature begins with a quotation from Peter Hunt which states, “[C]hildren’s literature and childhood do not exist outside ideology” (9). This volume achieves its goal of exploring how children’s literature can advocate, subvert, or contest particular world views by examining the “implicit and explicit manifestations of ideology in children’s literature” (10). The authors engage with a wide range of subject matter which incorporates a variety of types of texts and approaches in order to expose the politics and ideology embedded within them. Ranging from ecocritical, biopolitical, cinematic, feminist, and comparative approaches, each chapter builds on the scholarly work in their respective subfields, producing a wide-ranging and impactful text.

The contributors to the volume come from a variety of countries—primarily Ireland, Canada, and the UK—and include established and emerging scholars, teachers, and librarians. Together, they analyze literature from a variety of times and places such as early European myths and fables, eighteenth century Children’s stories from the United States, and modern cinematic interpretations of children’s stories and contemporary popular literature for youth. In this sense, the subjects range from Beatrix Potter’s works to the Hunger Games, from “Bluebeard” to the Twilight series, and from times of war and resistance to idealized times of peace. While this is a broad range of topics to explore, the volume unites them through the clear focus on politics and ideology within the individual texts studied.

Politics and Ideology in Children’s Literature is divided into four sections: ideology and subversion, utopias and dystopias, war and exile, and gender politics. The section on ideology and subversion explores the transformative potential of children’s literature. Clémentine Beauvais’ chapter examines the scope of social and political transformation encouraged by books for children and their different views of the individual’s role in the world. Eithne O’Connell’s chapter on Beatrix Potter focuses on the need to investigate the role of author of children’s literature in transmitting environmental messages across generations and provides a nuanced analysis of the relationship between authors, their books, and their audiences. Victoria de Rijke exposes the original political nature of children’s fables and the changing politicization of the fables over time, while Olga Springer compellingly presents the subversive nature of Edward Lear’s limericks.

The second section on utopias and dystopias addresses an increasingly popular trend within children’s literature, reflecting the “contemporary anxieties of young people.” The first two chapters in this section focus on Irish literature and the role of literature in national imaginings and reinvention. Together with the chapter on the Hunger Games by Susan Shau Ming Tan, this section explores the roles of children within children’s literature as both the nation’s future and as the carriers of the nation’s past. In this sense, the novels studied provide a fantastical alternative to reality while potentially empowering youth as agents of change.

The section on war and exile focuses on children’s literature from the first part of the twentieth century. Elizabeth Galway’s study of English children’s literature from WWI demonstrates the variety of ways in which children are represented within the texts, while Jessica D’Eath’s chapter on fascist Italian children’s literature explores the political role of texts within the context of the interwar years. Finally, Áine McGillicuddy’s chapter on the life and work of Judith Kerr investigates the relationship between the author’s life experience and the reading of her texts.

The final section focuses on gender politics across time and space. The subjects range from Marian Thérèse Keyes analysis of paratexts in the work of Anna Maria Hall and the ways in which they were used by the author to guide the reading of her...