Research Catalog

Details

Description

1. xii, 238 pages : illustrations; 23 cm.

Summary

1. "Many children learn from a very young age about the importance of always telling the truth. They also learn that telling lies is necessary if they are to survive in a world that paradoxically values the truth but practises deception. Secrets, Lies and Children's Fiction demonstrates how this paradox is played out in texts for children and young adults, how secrets and lies may be a necessary means for survival and adaptation, and how mendacity may have its virtues. Kerry Mallan examines a wide selection of international texts, spanning several decades, including picture books, novels, and films. By drawing on diverse fields of scholarship, Mallan makes important connections between children's literature, philosophical and moral complexities, and cultural and social tensions. Secrets, Lies and Children's Fiction provokes thinking about what passes as 'the truth', the consequences of truth telling and lying, and the sacrificial arbitrariness of scapegoating. "--

Series statement

1. Critical approaches to children's literature

Uniform title

1. Critical approaches to children's literature.

Subject

1. Truthfulness and falsehood in literature
2. Secrecy in literature
3. Paradox in literature
4. Children > Books and reading
5. Children's stories > History and criticism
6. Survival in literature

Contents

1. Introduction: the burden of truth -- Part I. Truth, Lies and Survival: 1. Unveiling the truth; 2. Lies of necessity; 3. The scapegoat -- Part II. Secrets and Secrecy: 4. Secrets of state; 5. Secret societies; 6. Our secret selves -- Part III. Tangled Webs: 7. Mendacious animals; 8. Artful deception -- Conclusion.

Call number

1. JFD 14-957

Bibliography (note)

1. Includes bibliographical references (pages 225-233) and index.

Author

1. Mallan, Kerry.

Title

1. Secrets, lies and children's fiction / Kerry Mallan.

Publisher

1. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire ; New York, NY : Palgrave Macmillan, 2013.

Type of content

1. text

Type of medium

1. unmediated

Type of carrier

1. volume

Series

1. Critical approaches to children's literature
2. Critical approaches to children's literature.

Bibliography

1. Includes bibliographical references (pages 225-233) and index.

LCCN

1. 2013044175

ISBN

1. 9781137274656 (hardback)
2. 1137274654 (hardback)

Research call number

1. JFD 14-957