The literary identity in literature for children by Elli Peonides

The problem of identity in literature I didn't face so much when writing for adults.

The words that the writer and, most importantly, the poet tries to shape (to mould) are rooted in the sources of our identity, in my case in the Greek sources.

As a matter of fact, my readers do not exceed the Greek-speaking public.

Even in the few translations of my poems, the foreign public has no serious problems of contact with the Greek culture, since this public has mostly an educational background in Greek culture.

Where I had, and still have, the problem of identity is when I write books for children! Maybe this sounds strange, but when I write a children's book, a number of questions appear to my mind, like: for which children am I writing? Is it for the children of Cyprus, for Greek children (since my books mainly published and distributed in Greece), for the children of Europe (since some of my books circulate also in European countries) or for the children of the world (since my aim is to reach children even beyond the borders of Europe)?

I know that my Grandfather has been the good old Aisopos, but I also feel as my distant relatives Hans Christian Anderson, brothers Grim and Gianni Rodari and Tolkien. The inexhaustible Greek mythology has nourished my infantile imagination for countless hours, but I have plunged with equal enthusiasm into the stories of Chalima and of Nastredin Hodja. My favourite company has been "The crooked Antonis" of Penelope Delta, but also the Red Riding Hood, Snowwhite, Alice, Pinoccio and Guliver. If I want to give a pure Cypriot identity to the stories I write, I have to draw my inspirations from the wonderful, but horrifying Cypriot fairy tales written in a dialect which even to Cypriot children is incomprehensible nowadays. I also have to take into account that these fairy tales are very often completely unsuitable for children and refer mainly to adults.

Finally, the children for which I am writing today are not the same children as these thirty years ago, when I wrote my first text for children. Within thirty years, technology created a different generation. A generation in which the child has the place of a pet (animal), or of a little robot.

Two years ago, I had the opportunity to attend a discussion, organised by the PEN of America in New York, on the topic: minorities in children's literature. In the discussion participated famous American writers, all of different national origin: Polish, Latin American, Jewish, Scandinavian, Chinese, African and Ukrainian. As is well known, New York is the city with more than 100 nationalities with the respective languages and customs. Well, in that discussion, among the many, very interesting questions was one raised by the Negro author: "when writing a book for children did it ever come to your mind to use black children as characters? or, do you ever use Black or Chinese children as features or illustrations in your books?" The other writers confessed that it didn't come to their mind, that they mainly write for children they know and immediately, a lively debate started as to whether writers themselves do not, unconsciously, promote nationalistic or race distinctions and identifications.

In June 1993, in Lyon, the 14th Conference took place of the International Association of Literary critics with the topic: "National identity in literature". Is there or is there not a European identity in the literature of Europe? The question remained unanswered. Everybody recognised some specificities between the African, European, Latin American, Asiatic literature, but equally everybody admitted that borders are very durable and depend upon many factors: language, origin, place or residence of the writer, various experiences, conditions of everyday life, influences, etc.. However, to one thing everybody agreed: that every country, through its culture, its art and its literature expresses its own identity. And it's this identity which gives the bouquet of the world's cultures its particular flavour and diversity. That is why, without trying dogmatically to keep our literature confined to its own 'character', we can allow to be permeated by the light and the flavour of its cultural specificity.

Turning back to literature for children, the work of the writer here is even more difficult, because children are the most difficult and demanding readers. They cannot take either pretension or compromise. If a child doesn't like a book, he or she will simply not read it. This also because the role of literary books for children is very important today. It is to educate the child, to give the child a guideline in the middle of influences and temptations. Indeed, the children's book has to face the most ruthless rival. The "glass box" which dominates the living room, the bedroom, the kitchen, the veranda or even the garden of modern houses, flooding the child with attractive messages, sometimes positive, most times negative or even poisonous. The children's book has the role of replacing the easy way out of learning and digesting the visual "food" and pleasant sounds. It has the role of inducing the child to concentration, to the discovery of the difficult and complex. It prompts the child to an exercise which demands effort, imagination, thought.

The temptations for the writer are enormous. Why should he not also try to be a "best seller" by using the well known recipes of an easy and digestible text? Why should he not sacrifice some principles for the sake of success?

The American Disney type models which have become universal, have found imitators all over the world. Many writers fall into the trap, sometimes voluntarily, other times unconsciously. In this matter, the responsibility of publishers is very big. There a few of them who care about the quality of books. In most cases, their main interest is to make profit. Thus, a large part of the children's books circulating in our country consists of products without origin, home or identity, they are more "Americanized" than the American identity....

Fortunately, during the last few years, a tremendous flourishing of children's literature is taking place in Greece, but I would say also in Cyprus. The honorary president of the Greek writers L. Tzivizas in America is only one example. Greece and Cyprus, which in every corner hides a legend, a myth, a story are an inexhaustible well from which the modern writer for children can find inspiration, provided he has the talent and imagination to make good use of them.

Closing this sort of intervention, I would like to propose to the organizers of this very important Seminar the following: a European Committee to undertake the collection of fairy-tales from each country of Europe and publish a book illustrated by a painter from each country. The book which will result from this, will be a book with identity of Europe. Every page of it will have the special flavour of each country of Europe. The best reading book for the new citizens of our big homeland.

I thank you for giving me the chance to participate in the Seminar and live so many unique experiences.

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The literary identity in literature for children by Elli Peonides