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Papers by Stephen Roxburgh
School Library Journal, 2004
Children's Literature in Education
Stephen Roxburgh is Assistant Editor of children's books at Farrar, Straus & Giroux. He has ... more Stephen Roxburgh is Assistant Editor of children's books at Farrar, Straus & Giroux. He has taught children's literature at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Roxburgh is a member of the Execu- tive Board of the Chil- dren's Literature Association and a Contributing ...
The ALAN Review, 2005
is, no young adult novelist has written a treatise on the art of the young adult novel, as James,... more is, no young adult novelist has written a treatise on the art of the young adult novel, as James, Forster, and Kundera did on the novel. The young adult novel has no great practitioner spokes person. However, it does have more than its fair share of commentators. Most recently in September Frances FitzGerald published an article in Harper's Magazine entitled, "The Influence of Anxiety: What's the problem with young adult novels?" FitzGerald presents an accurate, albeit cursory overview of the field. Her insights are not groundbreaking. For example, she asserts that for many YA critics and historians, young adult literature is by definition the notorious problem novel. Unfortunately, it's true, and it has been for most of the thirty-plus years since S.E.Hinton, Robert Cormier, Paul Zindel, Judy Blume and others wrote books that revolutionized the business of publishing for young readers. As you all know the "problem novels" of the '80s morphed into the "edgy" books of the late '90s. Based on her sources, FitzGerald charac terizes this strand of the young adult novel as thera peutic. She acknowledges the current "trend toward publishing more complex narratives in a more sophis ticated style for older teens," but in a quote FitzGerald attributes to our esteemed colleague, Roger Sutton of the Horn Book, "the kids won't read them, because they say 'I'm literature and I'm good for you."'
Narrative is the most vital element in literature for children, not only in the novel, but also i... more Narrative is the most vital element in literature for children, not only in the novel, but also in the modern picture book. Yet critical theory dealing with the narrative function of illustrations, as distinct from narrative elements in a text, is sadly lacking. It needs to be expanded if we, as adult readers of literature for children, want to understand the semantic structure of picture books. This paper will demonstrate the application of narrative theory to a seminal book in the genre, Outside Over There by Maurice Sendak. 1 Plot can be defined as the dynamic, sequential element in narrative literature. Insofar as character, or any other element in narrative, becomes dynamic, it is part of the plot. Spatial art, which presents its materials simultaneously, or in a random order, has no plot; but a succession of similar pictures can be arranged in a meaningful order (like Hogarth's "Rake's Progress") begins to have a plot because it begins to have a dynamic sequential existence. The images on a strip of motion-picture film are an extreme development of this plot-potential in spatial form.
School Library Journal, 2004
Children's Literature in Education
Stephen Roxburgh is Assistant Editor of children's books at Farrar, Straus & Giroux. He has ... more Stephen Roxburgh is Assistant Editor of children's books at Farrar, Straus & Giroux. He has taught children's literature at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Roxburgh is a member of the Execu- tive Board of the Chil- dren's Literature Association and a Contributing ...
The ALAN Review, 2005
is, no young adult novelist has written a treatise on the art of the young adult novel, as James,... more is, no young adult novelist has written a treatise on the art of the young adult novel, as James, Forster, and Kundera did on the novel. The young adult novel has no great practitioner spokes person. However, it does have more than its fair share of commentators. Most recently in September Frances FitzGerald published an article in Harper's Magazine entitled, "The Influence of Anxiety: What's the problem with young adult novels?" FitzGerald presents an accurate, albeit cursory overview of the field. Her insights are not groundbreaking. For example, she asserts that for many YA critics and historians, young adult literature is by definition the notorious problem novel. Unfortunately, it's true, and it has been for most of the thirty-plus years since S.E.Hinton, Robert Cormier, Paul Zindel, Judy Blume and others wrote books that revolutionized the business of publishing for young readers. As you all know the "problem novels" of the '80s morphed into the "edgy" books of the late '90s. Based on her sources, FitzGerald charac terizes this strand of the young adult novel as thera peutic. She acknowledges the current "trend toward publishing more complex narratives in a more sophis ticated style for older teens," but in a quote FitzGerald attributes to our esteemed colleague, Roger Sutton of the Horn Book, "the kids won't read them, because they say 'I'm literature and I'm good for you."'
Narrative is the most vital element in literature for children, not only in the novel, but also i... more Narrative is the most vital element in literature for children, not only in the novel, but also in the modern picture book. Yet critical theory dealing with the narrative function of illustrations, as distinct from narrative elements in a text, is sadly lacking. It needs to be expanded if we, as adult readers of literature for children, want to understand the semantic structure of picture books. This paper will demonstrate the application of narrative theory to a seminal book in the genre, Outside Over There by Maurice Sendak. 1 Plot can be defined as the dynamic, sequential element in narrative literature. Insofar as character, or any other element in narrative, becomes dynamic, it is part of the plot. Spatial art, which presents its materials simultaneously, or in a random order, has no plot; but a succession of similar pictures can be arranged in a meaningful order (like Hogarth's "Rake's Progress") begins to have a plot because it begins to have a dynamic sequential existence. The images on a strip of motion-picture film are an extreme development of this plot-potential in spatial form.