Critical Rewriting of La Fontaine’s Fables in the Context of Children’s Literature

Project no. 33225 · Status: Kapanmış (Yayın bekleniyor) · 2025

Summary

<p class="ql-align-justify">The&nbsp;study&nbsp;is&nbsp;based&nbsp;on&nbsp;the&nbsp;assumption&nbsp;that&nbsp;fables&nbsp;reflect&nbsp;the&nbsp;social&nbsp;and&nbsp;cultural&nbsp;values&nbsp;of&nbsp;the&nbsp;periods&nbsp;in&nbsp;which&nbsp;they&nbsp;were&nbsp;written&nbsp;and&nbsp;that&nbsp;these&nbsp;values&nbsp;need&nbsp;to&nbsp;be&nbsp;reconsidered&nbsp;within&nbsp;the&nbsp;framework&nbsp;of&nbsp;contemporary&nbsp;children’s&nbsp;literature.&nbsp;Accordingly,&nbsp;the&nbsp;project&nbsp;aims&nbsp;to&nbsp;critically&nbsp;examine&nbsp;Jean&nbsp;de&nbsp;La&nbsp;Fontaine’s&nbsp;fables&nbsp;in&nbsp;light&nbsp;of&nbsp;contemporary&nbsp;approaches&nbsp;to&nbsp;children’s&nbsp;literature&nbsp;and&nbsp;pedagogy&nbsp;and&nbsp;to&nbsp;rewrite&nbsp;them&nbsp;in&nbsp;a&nbsp;form&nbsp;appropriate&nbsp;for&nbsp;children&nbsp;aged&nbsp;8–12.&nbsp;In&nbsp;the&nbsp;study,&nbsp;243&nbsp;fables&nbsp;included&nbsp;in&nbsp;<em>Masallar</em>,&nbsp;published&nbsp;by&nbsp;İş&nbsp;Bankası&nbsp;Kültür&nbsp;Yayınları,&nbsp;were&nbsp;subjected&nbsp;to&nbsp;critical&nbsp;reading.&nbsp;Taking&nbsp;into&nbsp;consideration&nbsp;the&nbsp;purpose&nbsp;of&nbsp;the&nbsp;study,&nbsp;the&nbsp;target&nbsp;age&nbsp;group,&nbsp;and&nbsp;the&nbsp;developmental&nbsp;characteristics&nbsp;of&nbsp;child&nbsp;readers,&nbsp;17&nbsp;fables&nbsp;were&nbsp;selected&nbsp;and&nbsp;analyzed&nbsp;in&nbsp;detail.&nbsp;The&nbsp;study&nbsp;employed&nbsp;document&nbsp;analysis,&nbsp;one&nbsp;of&nbsp;the&nbsp;qualitative&nbsp;research&nbsp;methods,&nbsp;along&nbsp;with&nbsp;critical&nbsp;reading,&nbsp;thematic&nbsp;coding,&nbsp;and&nbsp;critical&nbsp;rewriting.&nbsp;Five&nbsp;thematic&nbsp;codes&nbsp;were&nbsp;identified&nbsp;as&nbsp;a&nbsp;result&nbsp;of&nbsp;the&nbsp;analysis:&nbsp;power,&nbsp;hierarchy,&nbsp;and&nbsp;superiority&nbsp;(T1);&nbsp;punishment&nbsp;and&nbsp;disproportionate&nbsp;consequences&nbsp;(T2);&nbsp;status&nbsp;quo&nbsp;and&nbsp;normative&nbsp;order&nbsp;(T3);&nbsp;experimentation,&nbsp;curiosity,&nbsp;and&nbsp;learning&nbsp;process&nbsp;(T4);&nbsp;and&nbsp;narrative&nbsp;structure&nbsp;and&nbsp;reader&nbsp;positioning&nbsp;(T5).&nbsp;The&nbsp;problematic&nbsp;values&nbsp;and&nbsp;narrative&nbsp;elements&nbsp;identified&nbsp;were&nbsp;transformed&nbsp;in&nbsp;accordance&nbsp;with&nbsp;contemporary&nbsp;pedagogical&nbsp;and&nbsp;literary&nbsp;approaches,&nbsp;and&nbsp;the&nbsp;fables&nbsp;were&nbsp;subsequently&nbsp;rewritten.&nbsp;The&nbsp;study&nbsp;is&nbsp;expected&nbsp;to&nbsp;contribute&nbsp;to&nbsp;comparisons&nbsp;between&nbsp;the&nbsp;social&nbsp;and&nbsp;cultural&nbsp;values&nbsp;of&nbsp;the&nbsp;past&nbsp;and&nbsp;contemporary&nbsp;approaches&nbsp;to&nbsp;children’s&nbsp;literature,&nbsp;as&nbsp;well&nbsp;as&nbsp;to&nbsp;enabling&nbsp;child&nbsp;readers&nbsp;to&nbsp;evaluate&nbsp;the&nbsp;fables&nbsp;from&nbsp;a&nbsp;different&nbsp;perspective.</p><p class="ql-align-justify"></p>

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