Bloomsbury Academic
From Tongue to Text: A New Reading of Children's Poetry
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From Tongue to Text: A New Reading of Children's Poetry
Author(s): Debbie Pullinger
The connection between childhood and poetry runs deep. And yet, poetry written for children has been neglected by criticism and resists prevailing theories of children's literature. Drawing on Walter Ong's theory of orality and on Iain McGilChrist's work on brain function, this book develops a new theoretical framework for the study of children's poetry. From Tongue to Text argues that the poem is a multimodal form that exists in the borderlands between the world of experience and the world of language and between orality and literacy – places that children themselves inhabit. Engaging with a wide range of poetry from nursery rhymes and Christina Rossetti to Michael Rosen and Carol Ann Duffy, Debbie Pullinger demonstrates how these 'tactful' works are shaped by the dynamics of orality and textuality.
Review(s):
“In a brief closing section, Pullinger returns to the idea of ‘tactful reading’ to argue that children’s poetry is best understood, not through arm’s-length theories, but through methodologies that are grounded in ‘commitment, immersion, abandonment, trust’ … This is an ambitious conclusion to an ambitious study. Its success reflects the author’s broad knowledge of contemporary British poetry as well as her willingness to draw from multiple academic perspectives. While the study of children’s literature is flourishing, it remains divided among the disciplines of education, literary criticism, history, and psychology. From Tongue to Text is itself an act of ‘integrated reading’ that crosses disciplinary lines to make a strong case for the value and complexity of children’s poetry.” - The Lion and the Unicorn
ISBN: 9781474222327
Author(s): Debbie Pullinger
The connection between childhood and poetry runs deep. And yet, poetry written for children has been neglected by criticism and resists prevailing theories of children's literature. Drawing on Walter Ong's theory of orality and on Iain McGilChrist's work on brain function, this book develops a new theoretical framework for the study of children's poetry. From Tongue to Text argues that the poem is a multimodal form that exists in the borderlands between the world of experience and the world of language and between orality and literacy – places that children themselves inhabit. Engaging with a wide range of poetry from nursery rhymes and Christina Rossetti to Michael Rosen and Carol Ann Duffy, Debbie Pullinger demonstrates how these 'tactful' works are shaped by the dynamics of orality and textuality.
Review(s):
“In a brief closing section, Pullinger returns to the idea of ‘tactful reading’ to argue that children’s poetry is best understood, not through arm’s-length theories, but through methodologies that are grounded in ‘commitment, immersion, abandonment, trust’ … This is an ambitious conclusion to an ambitious study. Its success reflects the author’s broad knowledge of contemporary British poetry as well as her willingness to draw from multiple academic perspectives. While the study of children’s literature is flourishing, it remains divided among the disciplines of education, literary criticism, history, and psychology. From Tongue to Text is itself an act of ‘integrated reading’ that crosses disciplinary lines to make a strong case for the value and complexity of children’s poetry.” - The Lion and the Unicorn
ISBN: 9781474222327