THE 22ND BIENNIAL CONGRESS OF IRSCL Held by the International Forum for Research in Children’s Literature, Institute of Humanities & Creative Arts, at the University of Worcester Saturday 8 August - Wednesday 12 August 2015 CONFERENCE PROGRAMME 2 3 CONTENTS 4 Welcome from IRSCL President 5 Welcome from the Convenor of the IRSCL 2015 Congress 6 About IRSCL 9 IRSCL Membership Information 10 Congress 2017 12 Maps 16 Practical Information 20 Keynote Speakers 24 Artists and Workshops 26 The Centre for The Picture Book in Society 28 Daily Programme 30 Master Programme 34 Panels 49 Panel Schedule 50 Panel Abstracts 85 Notes 92 Individual Papers 224 Index All attendees and details correct at time of print. Please note that this, and the ‘Individual Papers’ booklet are continuously paginated. 4 WELCOME FROM IRSCL PRESIDENT Welcome to the 22nd Congress of the International Research Society for Children’s Literature. The Society is very pleased to meet at the University of Worcester this summer: this is a university that supports the study of children’s literature at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels and that promotes scholarship in the field through its International Forum for Research in Children’s Literature and its Institute of Humanities and Creative Arts. The theme of Congress 2015 is Creating Childhoods. Conference organizers have planned a rich programme of keynote talks and scholarly papers that address various strands of this theme: childhood health and wellbeing, the child in myth and folklore, childhood in history, and the representation of children in imaginative texts. At this Congress, delegates also have the unique opportunity to participate in sessions with storytellers, artists, and performers who create texts for and with young people. As always, there will be many opportunities for informal conversations among colleagues, for catching up with old friends, and for making new acquaintances. Speakers and delegates have come to the Worcester Congress from more than forty countries. On behalf of the Executive Board of IRSCL, I want to acknowledge Professor Jean Webb for her leadership in convening the Congress, and to thank her, her planning committee, and her colleagues at the University of Worcester for the work they have undertaken to ensure that this Congress will be an intellectually challenging and memorable occasion for all of us. Finally, thank you to all of the speakers and participants: you affirm by your presence and your presentations the continuing significance of thinking about the place of childhood and children’s texts in our cultural systems. Mavis Reimer 5 WELCOME FROM THE CONVENOR OF THE IRSCL 2015 CONGRESS Welcome to the 22nd biennial IRSCL congress. Worcester is very proud to host this congress which brings together a truly international community of scholars in the field of children’s literature. The impetus for this congress was an awareness of the increasingly inter-disciplinary nature of the study of children’s literature; a phenomenon which is often referred to but rarely widely discussed. ‘Creativity’ is also, at least in the UK, a subject and approach which is topical, yet again under explored. The congress team at Worcester therefore decided to bring these two matters together against which to consider, interrogate and analyse children’s literature and texts in the widest interpretation, and to furthermore consider the impact upon children and childhoods from international perspectives. Writers, artists and academics variously create, interpret and re-create notions of childhoods and the child body. The congress has therefore been organised thematically encouraging cross-over papers which integrate differing aspects along the following themes embedded in writing for children: • Re-interpreting and creating childhoods through history(s) • The body, child health, disability and well-being • Childhoods and the child in myth and folklore • Artistic interpretation and creation of childhoods and the child in illustration, picture books, film and media, poetry and drama • the impact of globalization and changing cultures • the construction of childhoods The intention was also to include and encourage areas of research in children’s literature which are developing and cutting-edge, such as the body, plus those areas such as poetry and drama for children which are often under-represented in discussion at conferences. The congress has been structured into thematic blocks with the broad headings of: History; Body; Media (covering illustration, picture books, film and media, poetry, drama, myth and folklore); and Childhoods. The congress thus works on a process of inter-relationship across the days of the congress. The panels and papers have been coded according to their general subject affiliations (H -History; B – Body; M Media; C- Childhoods). Embedded themes, such as papers on war, have been staggered so that delegates may follow their own particular interests through the congress. The keynote lectures are being given by those who are variously leading figures their fields and whose talks link with the themes of the congress and contribute to the discussions of interdisciplinarity, creativity and childhoods. Here the congress team would like to warmly thank them for their time and enthusiasm. As the overarching title of the congress is ‘Creativity’ we have sessions in addition to the academic papers. They are being given by storytellers, picture book artists, a puppeteer, a children’s poet, a children’s writer, and an actor, all of whom who have received recognition at very high levels, and who have contributed to new ways of thinking about their artistic work with and for children. The organising team at Worcester wish you a stimulating and fruitful time at the congress. Jean Webb, Congress convenor 6 ABOUT IRSCL The International Research Society for Children’s Literature is an international scholarly organisation established to support and promote research in the field of children’s literature. It includes members from over forty countries worldwide. AIMS • To promote academic research and scholarship into children’s and youth literature, reading and related fields. • To facilitate co-operation between researchers in different countries and in different branches of learning. • To enable researchers in different countries to exchange information, share discussion of professional and theoretical issues, and initiate and co-ordinate research. IRSCL BOARD 2013-15 President Secretary Member at Large Mavis Reimer Lies Wesseling Andrea Mei-Ying Wu Centre for Research in Young People’s Department Letteren & Kunst Department of Taiwanese Literature Texts and Cultures Faculteit der Cultuurwetenschappen National Cheng Kung University Department of English Postbus 616, 6200 MD No.1, University Road University of Winnipeg Maastricht Tainan City 701 515 Portage Avenue The Netherlands Taiwan Winnipeg, Manitoba R3B 2E9 Tel: +31 43 388 3309 [work]; +31 43 Tel: +886 6 2757575 ext 52634 Canada 363 6043 [home] Fax: +886 6 2766472 Tel: +1 204 786 9185 [work]; +1 204 Fax: +31 43 388 4816 Email: [email protected] 475 5655 [home] Email: Lies.Wesseling@ Fax: +1 204 774 4134 Maastrichtuniversity.nl Email: [email protected] Treasurer, Membership Secretary, Awards and Grants Coordinator Convenor of the 2015 IRSCL and Vice-President Astrid Surmatz Conference Ingrid Johnston Universiteit van Amsterdam Jean Webb Department of Secondary Education Scandinavische talen en culturen, Institute of Humanities & Creative 347 Education South Spuistr. 134 Arts University of Alberta NL 1012 VB University of Worcester Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2G5 Amsterdam Henwick Grove, WR2 6AJ Canada The Netherlands United Kingdom Tel: +1 780 492 5320 Fax: +31 20 388 2756 Tel: +44 01905 85 5459 Fax: +1 780 492 9402 Email: [email protected] Fax: +44 1905 855 132 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] 7 2015 IRSCL Congress Committee Fateha Aziz (University of Worcester) Peter Hunt (Cardiff University Emeritus) Rachel Johnson (University of Worcester) Presidents 2011-Present Mavis Reimer 2007-2011 Clare Bradford 2003-2007 Kimberley Reynolds 1999-2003 Sandra Beckett 1997-1999 John Stephens 1993-1997 Maria Nikolajeva 1989-1993 Rhonda Bunbury 1985-1989 Anne MacLeod 1981-1985 Denise Escarpit 1978-1981 James Fraser 1974-1978 Göte Klingberg 1970-1974 Klaus Doderer 8 ABOUT IRSCL cont. Past Congresses 2013 Maastricht, The Netherlands - Children’s Literature and Media Cultures 2011 Brisbane, Australia - Fear and Safety 2009 Frankfurt, Germany - Children’s Literature and Cultural Diversity in the Past and the Present 2007 Kyoto, Japan - Power and Children’s Literature: Past, Present and Future 2005 Dublin, Ireland – Expectations and Experiences: Children, Childhood and Children’s Literature 2003 Kristiansand, Norway - Telling a World, Shaping a World. 2001 Klein Kariba, South Africa - Change and Renewal in Children’s Literature 1999 Calgary, Canada - Children’s Literature and the fin de siècle (Joint meeting with the Children’s Literature Association) 1997 York, England - The Presence of the Past in Children’s Literature 1995 Stockholm, Sweden - Reflections of Change: the last 50 Years in Children’s Literature 1993 Geelong, Australia - Crossing the boundaries: Multiculturalism in Children’s Literature 1991 Paris, France - The Applications of Contemporary Literary and Cultural Theory to Children’s Literature 1989 Salamanca, Spain - The History of Children’s Literature 1987 Cologne, Germany - Books for children, Books for