Du jeu, des enfants et des livres à l'heure de la mondialisation (Play, children and books in the process of globalization) by Jean Perrot (review)

Jean Perrot's extensive, detailed examination of the theme of playfulness in children's literature also takes into account the relationship between children's literature and various media. In this study, Perrot coins the term "ludiste" (from the Latin ludus, "play") to adopt the point of view of the critic who, with Jerome Bruner, considers play as the main criterion of children's nature and culture. He examines children's and young adult literature of the last decade and poses the questions: "Does literature compete with video games, the Internet, and DVDs within the process of globalization, and what are the new literary trends that result from the present change?" The answer seems to be that since video games appeal to the need for play and recreation, books must also fulfill this need in order to compete. Perrot discusses the current trends in children's and young adult literature while revealing their inherent intertextuality with earlier literatures. The chapters are divided into sections that are loosely related to the topic of each chapter. The text of the book is in French; however, many of the works discussed come from other cultures. I have chosen here to highlight works in English.

Chapter one introduces recent research on children's literature. Perrot discusses Composition Française (French Composition) by Mona Ozouf, who underscores the idea that the identity of French children has been shaped by the reading of books expressing the variety of religious and provincial cultures unified by the Republican faith. Perrot, grounding his approach in Zygmunt Bauman's theories, shares some of Jack Zipes's views expressed in Relentless Progress: The Reconfiguration of Children's Literature, Fairy Tales and Storytelling; both denounce the general cheapening of books and at the same time point to new successful classics. Perrot notes that in her study La Littérature de jeunesse: Pour une théorie littéraire (Young adult literature: Creating a literary theory) Nathalie Prince explores the "golden age" of literature, starting in the 1970s, when children's literature took on the goal of providing a recreational activity as opposed to its original purpose, which was instructional. Perrot also discusses La Culture de l'enfance à l'heure de la mondialisation (The culture of childhood in an era of globalization), in which Pierre Bruno criticizes the Disneyfication of literature, as certain icons of French literature such as Tintin and Astérix are being turned into animated film characters. Perrot notes that starting in the 1980s with the success of Star Wars, films and books began to be more systematically accompanied by side-products, games, television shows, cartoons, and other representations. In her work Crossover Fiction: Global and Historical Perspectives, Sandra L. Beckett addresses the idea of "intergenerational literature" such as the Harry Potter series. Books and series such as The Hunger Games by Suzan Collins and Twilight by Stephenie Meyer have been picked up by adults as well as young readers.

Chapter two addresses the problem of reaching the readers of the video era through a pragmatic use of what Perrot calls the "ludic imagination." When Fénelon wrote his groundbreaking novel Les Aventures de Télémaque (The Adventures of Télémaque) in 1699 for the instruction of King Louis XIV's grandson, he commented, after John Locke, that one should mix play with instruction. The entertainment factor may explain why an author such as Berquin, who wrote moral tales, has long since been forgotten. Perrot notes that modern books based on toys such as Barbie dolls are highly formulaic and exploitative. He also discusses a new phenomenon of fiction created through video games. For example, the central character from the video game Prince of Persia later became the subject of a film.

This chapter also discusses the pleasure children take in surprises, like the toys found...