Histoires de famille et litterature de jeunesse / Family Stories and Children’s Literature: Filiation, transmission, reinvention ? / Parentage, Transmission or Reinvention?

Ce livre reexamine la representation de la famille dans des romans, albums ou pieces de theatre pour la jeunesse relevant de differentes aires geographiques, culturelles et linguistiques. Bienveillants ou alienants, les liens tisses entre generations ou au sein de la fratrie conditionnent la construction des jeunes protagonistes. La litterature de jeunesse reflete la diversite de la famille et sa capacite a evoluer, voire a se reinventer (familles monoparentales ou homoparentales, recomposees, adoptives…). En proposant des modeles parfois eloignes des realites connues des lecteurs, elle les invite a reevaluer leur propre experience mais temoigne aussi d'une certaine constance des attentes et des interrogations que l'institution suscite.

This book re-examines the representation of the family in novels, picture books or theatre plays for young people, belonging to various geographical, cultural and linguistic areas.The bonds between generations or among siblings, whether benevolent or destructive, play a decisive part in the young protagonists’ development. Children’s literature is shown to reflect the diversity of the family as an institution and its ability to change or even to reinvent itself (single-parent, same-sex-parent, blended or adoptive families…). Its fictional representations of the family may differ from the realities experienced by the readers, and invites them to reconsider their own experiences, yet show expectations and questions related to family life to remain fairly constant.