Children's Literature and Spirit

Stories are an important vehicle in the human quest for meaning in life. The quest for meaning is vital to our emotional and spiritual health. Traditional forms of teaching and learning with literature often suppress this quest. At the end of this course we will describe the quest for meaning as occurring along four paths: a path of joy, a path of pain, a path of creativity, and a path of transformation. Exploring each of the four paths is necessary for healthy living and certain stories for children can tap into these quests. Stories of pain, creativity, and transformation are most often the kinds of stories adults attempt to keep from children. It may well be that these stories that make some adults uncomfortable are necessarily vital for the total emotional and spiritual health of the child.

There is an emerging strain of thinking in children's literature studies that takes its cues from eco-feminism. Instead of pulling convention apart or viewing the world as one big economic market to exploit, this focuses upon relationship and connection. It is perhaps best seen not in the conventional, dramatic, conflict-based forms of storytelling but in some of the nonlinear, episodic, less conflicted forms of storytelling. Its concern then isn't with deconstructing the conventional, but reconstructing new conventions based upon hope and respect. This part of the course asks you to consider these newer, messier forms of storytelling as part of a larger social project aimed at building a society based upon partnerships rather than competition.