The Impossibility of

Innocence

Ideology, Politics and Children’s Literature

Warm-Up: Debate Club

1. Children’s fiction does not belong together with adult literature because it is innocent
and aims to amuse.
2. Ideology and politics (e.g. race, class or gender issues) are present in any type of text,
including children’s fiction.
3. Books for children should primarily aim to socialise and educate.
4. We should hide unpleasant or explicit content from children. Books for children
should depict good, moral and pleasant things.
5. All language is inherently ideological.
6. The purpose of children’s fiction is to help children develop good taste in literature.
7. The opposite of ideology is common sense.
8. There is a direct relationship between a children’s story and its child reader.
9. The implied reader and the real reader often differ substantially.
10. Not only canonised literature, but also popular fiction can challenge dominant
ideologies.
What is politics? What is ideology?
POLITICS

a. The activities associated with the governance of a country or area,

especially the debate between parties having power.
b. Activities aimed at improving someone’s status or increasing power
within an organization.
c. The principles relating to or inherent in a sphere or activity, especially
when concerned with power and status.

IDEOLOGY

A system of ideas and ideals, especially one which forms the basis of economic
or political theory and policy.
Different Approaches to Children’s Fiction
● didacticism (18th and 19th century): education and
morals
● reading for pleasure (early 20th century): attempt to
avoid condescension
● the ideology debate (1970s): representation,
stereotyping and bias
● literary criticism (1960s and 1970s): appraising the
artistic worth of children’s fiction
● the determinism v. agency debate (1990s): do we
construct texts or are we constructed by them?
 Talk about the following...
IDEOLOGY ● history and meaning of the word “ideology” (etymology,
Marx, Althusser, meaning in children’s fiction...)
● function of ideology acc. to Hollindale
● conservatism in children’s literature
● who employs ideological analytic methods in analysing
children’s literature and why
● why is ideological analysis criticised
● what ideological analysis focuses on and what it ignores
 Talk about the following...
INNOCENCE ● sexualisation of children
● meaning and etymology of the word “innocence”
● othering/exoticising childhood
● criticism of the view of children as innocent
● views about children in history (original sin, Locke,
Romanticism)
● impact of the innocence doctrine on adults
● paradoxical attitude to childhood in the Victorian era (e.g.
Lewis Carroll) and in our time
● contemporary approach to puberty
 Milne’s father ran a private school, where one of the
boy’s teachers was a young H.G. Wells. Milne attended
Trinity College, Cambridge on a mathematics

Alan Alexander
scholarship. He edited and wrote for Granta magazine.
After school, he moved to London to make a living as a
freelance writer. In 1906 he joined the staff of Punch,

Milne writing humorous verse and whimsical essays. He

achieved considerable success with a series of light
comedies, including Mr. Pim Passes By (1921) and
Michael and Mary (1930). Milne also wrote one
born 1882, London — died memorable detective novel, The Red House Mystery
January 31, 1956, Hartfield (1922), and a children’s play, Make-Believe (1918),
before stumbling upon his true literary métier with
some verses written for his son, Christopher Robin
(When We Were Very Young (1924) and Now We Are Six
(1927)) These remain classics of light verse for children.
Winnie-the-Pooh (1926)

● two separate books: Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner (1928)
● turned into a merchandising mega-hit in the early 1930s
● episodic narrative structure
● central themes: bildung - the growing up of Christopher Robin
● ideology: childhood as time of innocence, freedom and play
● intimate, playful and ironic style
● based on dialogue: action and characterisation is driven by what the
animals say to each other
 Discussion Questions
1. Do children really have to grow up and leave the "Hundred Acre Wood?" What would happen if we stayed and did
nothing our whole lives?
2. A lot of people say that childhood today is different than it was back in their day. After reading this book, what do
you think Milne would say about your childhood? What about your children's?
3. For a bear with very little brain, Pooh says some profound stuff. Is he really as vacant as the description says he is?
What nuggets of wisdom can you find in his silliness?
4. Friendship is an important theme in Winnie-the-Pooh. But here's a question: are the relationships among the
characters in this book actually realistic? Do they remind you of your friendships?
5. All children engage in pretend play when they're young. And biologists and psychologists alike tell us that play is
an essential way that children learn about the world—from the mechanics of how things work to how to interact
in social situations. What do you think Christopher Robin learned during his play with the animals in the Hundred
Acre Wood?
6. The narrative structure of Winnie-the-Pooh is actually pretty complicated. How do you think children respond to
the many levels of narrative, the postmodern tidbits, the irony and humor? Do they get it? Do they need to?
Guilty or innocent?