Picture-book professors : academia and children's literature / Melissa M. Terras.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Terras, Melissa M., author.

Series:

Cambridge elements.

Cambridge elements

Elements in publishing and book culture 2514-8524

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Children's literature--History and criticism.

Children's literature.

College teachers in literature.

Stereotypes (Social psychology) in literature.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (304 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2018.

Summary:

How is academia portrayed in children's literature? This Element ambitiously surveys fictional professors in texts marketed towards children. Professors are overwhelmingly white and male, tending to be elderly scientists who fall into three stereotypes: the vehicle to explain scientific facts, the baffled genius, and the evil madman. By the late twentieth century, the stereotype of the male, mad, muddlehead, called Professor SomethingDumb, is formed in humorous yet pejorative fashion. This Element provides a publishing history of the role of academics in children's literature, questioning the book culture which promotes the enforcement of stereotypes regarding intellectual expertise in children's media. The Element is also available, with additional material, as Open Access.

Contents:

Cover

Title page

Copyright page

Picture-Book Professors: Academia and Children's Literature

Contents

1 Introduction

2 Related Research: Representation, Vocation and Higher Education

2.1 The Study of Representation in Children's Literature

2.2 Why Study Representation in Children's Literature?

2.3 Analysis of Vocations in Children's Literature

2.4 Analysis of Higher Education in Popular Culture

2.5 Analysis of Individual Children's Texts

2.6 Conclusion

3 Research Methodology

3.1 Building the Corpus

3.2 Analysing the Corpus

3.3 Conclusion

4 An Analysis of Academics in Children's Illustrated Literature

4.1 An Overview of the Corpus

4.2 The Appearance of Professors in Children's Literature

4.3 The Presence and Absence of the University

4.4 Gender

4.5 Race

4.6 Visual Stereotypes and the Judging of Appearance: Age, Hair and Dress

4.7 Class

4.8 Not All Fictional Academics are Created Human

4.9 Academic Title

4.10 Academic Subject Area

4.11 Puppeteers, Magicians and Performers

4.12 The Academics in the Plot

4.13 Conclusion: The Stereotypes Emerge

5 Pedagogical, Baffled or Mad: Building Stereotypes

5.1 The Stereotypical Professor as Teacher

5.2 The Stereotypical Muddle-Head

5.3 The Stereotypical Madman

5.4 Influences from Popular Culture

5.5 Conclusion

6 Conclusion

Acknowledgements

Appendix A Children's Books Included in the Analysis

Appendix B Academics Identified in Children's Literature, Listed Chronologically

Appendix C Potential Books Identified (But Unavailable)

Bibliography.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 15 Oct 2018).

Open Access title.

ISBN:

9781108540322

1108540325

9781108543026

1108543022

9781108529501

110852950X

OCLC:

1492934430