The Construction of an Active Reader in Two Holocaust Themed Novels for Children: "Hitler's Daughter" (1999) and "The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas" (2006) as "Bildungsroman"

Autor/in	Curthoys, Ned
Titel	The Construction of an Active Reader in Two Holocaust Themed Novels for Children: "Hitler's Daughter" (1999) and "The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas" (2006) as "Bildungsroman"
Quelle	In: Children's Literature in Education, 52 (2021) 2, S.253-270 (18 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Curthoys, Ned)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0045-6713
DOI	10.1007/s10583-020-09416-7
Schlagwörter	Childrens Literature; Novels; Jews; Death; War; European History; Literary Genres; Adolescent Literature; Social Emotional Learning; Emotional Response; Humanization + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? 'Children''s literature'; Kinderliteratur; Novel; Roman; Jew; Jude; Jüdin; Juden; Sterbefall; Tod; Todesfall; Krieg; Literarische Form; Adolescent; Adolescents; Literature; Jugend; Jugendalter; Jugendlicher; literatur; Emotionales Verhalten; Humanisierung
Abstract	This article argues that two significant recent influential historical novels about the Holocaust, "Hitler's Daughter" (1999) and "The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas" (2006), reprise the genre traits of the "Bildungsroman" or novel of development and can be regarded as remarkably effective in engaging an active reader. Both novels, intended for children and younger adolescent readers, are focused on initially sequestered child protagonists from a perpetrator culture who are unable to fully understand their circumstances but undergo formative experiences by leaving 'home', legible both as a physical domicile and a site of indoctrination and repression. As they journey away from a limited conception of biological family the novel's protagonists are able to reject constricting modes of social conditioning that repress authentic self-expression, curiosity, and impartial ethical judgment. In both novels the protagonists transform their perception of their circumstances by becoming resourceful bricoleurs, unearthing imaginative possibilities in their immediate environment that allow them to forestall emotional isolation and the dehumanization of designated 'Others' such as the Jews. The article suggests that while "The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas" has been read as reinforcing the myth of German innocence, its typological representation of a 'dangerous family' and its implied affirmation of Bruno's explorative instincts, empathetic capacities, and commitment to friendship, allow a reader greater recognition of the 'banal ideologies and institutions occupied by the perpetrator' (Ann Rider). (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01