Sometime back I was reviewing and comparing children’s literature in English and Telugu. scienceintelugu.blogspot.in/2012/08/blog-post_30.html In English I found that there are a surprisingly large number of genres in children’s literature. Here’s a list (not sure if there are more): Fiction: 1. Fantasy 2. Adventure 3. Murder mysteries 4. Horror 5. Science fiction 6. Explorers 7. Alternative histories Non-fiction: 1. Science 2. History 3. Travelogues 4. Mythology 5. Activities and games In Telugu if you see what is currently available, it is predominantly only two genres: 1. Moral stories (more moral stories and even more moral…) 2. Mythology In fact, we have come to a situation where people have come to feel that “that’s what children’s literature is supposed to be.” You wonder, if children in India grew on such a solid diet of moral stories, where did this rampant corruption come from? (Of course there is the perverse argument that ‘the children are not getting enough of it!’ which can be disastrous!) I think what children need is a literature that can give them a sense of wonder, lifts up their spirits, fills their hearts with joy, instill courage, confidence, and empower them to tackle the challenges of the real world. At the min it is enough if the stories make them laugh, and keep them happy, because to be happy is the spontaneous state of a child. Contrived moral stories that bore children to death and add pain to their already uncertain and fragile lives are best avoided. In this context, I wish to add a delightful quote from Mark Twain: “Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot. BY ORDER OF THE AUTHOR (From the Adventures of Huck Finn) goodreads/quotes/72737-persons-attempting-to-find-a-motive-in-this-narrative-will These observations about the deficits in children’s literature in Telugu could possibly be extrapolated to other Indian languages. This brings us to challenges involved in reforming local language education in India. There is a growing number of strong supporters of education in Indian language media. The advantages of education in one’s mother tongue is well known. I too support the idea of reforming local language education. But in order to instill a greater life into local language education, one must first recognize the poverty of material available in Indian languages from the perspective of contemporary needs. That chasm must first be filled. Considering the dearth of literature available in Indian languages in key areas like science or knowledge in general, it might take a couple of decades of aggressive effort by a large number of enthusiastic writers, before the needs are met. When such a development takes place, Indian language education will acquire a vibrancy and life comparable to the best instances of local language media of education seen in the developed world. But merely forcing children to opt for the local language system without making that revolutionary effort to enrich what is available in our languages would be simply cruel and unwise.
Posted on: Sat, 19 Jul 2014 07:35:02 +0000
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