Chapter 4. The forgotten history of avant-garde publishing for children in early twentieth-century Britain
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Kimberley Reynolds
Abstract
This chapter considers the British interpretation of avant-garde, here called ‘romantic Modernism’, as it was manifested in children’s literature during the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. Since all of the children’s books featured in the chapter as well as their writers and illustrators have been neglected by standard histories, the chapter is an exercise in literary recovery as much as an analysis of individual texts. It demonstrates interaction between writing and illustration for children and avant-garde arts and letters in Britain during these years.
Abstract
This chapter considers the British interpretation of avant-garde, here called ‘romantic Modernism’, as it was manifested in children’s literature during the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. Since all of the children’s books featured in the chapter as well as their writers and illustrators have been neglected by standard histories, the chapter is an exercise in literary recovery as much as an analysis of individual texts. It demonstrates interaction between writing and illustration for children and avant-garde arts and letters in Britain during these years.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Table of figures vii
- Introduction 1
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Vanguard tendencies since the beginning of the twentieth century
- Chapter 1. John Ruskin and the mutual influences of children’s literature and the avant-garde 19
- Chapter 2. Einar Nerman – From the picturebook page to the avant-garde stage 45
- Chapter 3. Sándor Bortnyik and an interwar Hungarian children’s book 65
- Chapter 4. The forgotten history of avant-garde publishing for children in early twentieth-century Britain 89
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The Impact of the Russian avant-garde
- Chapter 5. The square as regal infant 113
- Chapter 6. The 1929 Amsterdam exhibition of early Soviet children’s picturebooks 137
- Chapter 7. Rupture. Ideological, aesthetic, and educational transformations in Danish picturebooks around 1933 171
- Chapter 8. Mirror images 189
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Postbellum avant-garde children’s books
- Chapter 9. Manifestations of the avant-garde and its legacy in French children’s literature 217
- Chapter 10. Just what is it that makes Pop Art picturebooks so different, so appealing? 241
- Chapter 11. Surrealism for children 267
- About the editors and contributors 285
- Subject Index 289
- Name Index 293
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Table of figures vii
- Introduction 1
-
Vanguard tendencies since the beginning of the twentieth century
- Chapter 1. John Ruskin and the mutual influences of children’s literature and the avant-garde 19
- Chapter 2. Einar Nerman – From the picturebook page to the avant-garde stage 45
- Chapter 3. Sándor Bortnyik and an interwar Hungarian children’s book 65
- Chapter 4. The forgotten history of avant-garde publishing for children in early twentieth-century Britain 89
-
The Impact of the Russian avant-garde
- Chapter 5. The square as regal infant 113
- Chapter 6. The 1929 Amsterdam exhibition of early Soviet children’s picturebooks 137
- Chapter 7. Rupture. Ideological, aesthetic, and educational transformations in Danish picturebooks around 1933 171
- Chapter 8. Mirror images 189
-
Postbellum avant-garde children’s books
- Chapter 9. Manifestations of the avant-garde and its legacy in French children’s literature 217
- Chapter 10. Just what is it that makes Pop Art picturebooks so different, so appealing? 241
- Chapter 11. Surrealism for children 267
- About the editors and contributors 285
- Subject Index 289
- Name Index 293
