The Rhetoric of Character in Children's Literature - Paperback

by Maria Nikolajeva (Author)

Now available in paperback! Until now, there was no theoretical research of character in children's fiction and very few comprehensive theoretical studies of literary characters in general. In her latest intellectual foray, the author of From Mythic to Linear ponders the art of characterization. Through a variety of critical perspectives, she uncovers the essential differences between story ("what we are told") and discourse ("how we are told"), and carefully distinguishes between how these are employed in children's fiction and in general fiction. Yet another masterful work by a leading figure in contemporary criticism.

Author Biography

Maria Nikolajeva is Professor of Comparative Literature at Stockholm University in Stockholm, Sweden. She was the president of the International Research Society for Children's Literature 1993-97. She has also been member of the North American Children's Literature Association since 1985 and has served on its International Committee. In addition to being the author and editor of several books on children's literature, she is one of the senior editors of the forthcoming Oxford Encyclopedia of Children's Literature.