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Lookup NU author(s): Professor Matthew GrenbyORCiD
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© Oxford University Press 2015. This chapter examines children’s and juvenile literature. Many pre-Victorian children did not encounter children’s fiction at all. A substantial number, of course, were largely disconnected from literary culture by indigence or illiteracy. However, lots of those young people who did consume books continued to use material designed primarily for adults. What confuses the matter is that the distinction could be very blurred between literature for adults and literature for ‘young gentlemen and ladies’. What would now be called ‘crossover’ works were common: titles originally aimed at adults that were quickly appropriated by or for young readers. By 1820, the novel for children was establishing itself as a distinct entity, but had not quite disconnected itself from the mainstream. Children’s fiction was still shadowing the novel for adults, imitating its genres, and sharing its concerns.
Author(s): Grenby MO
Editor(s): Peter Garside and Karen O'Brien
Publication type: Book Chapter
Publication status: Published
Book Title: The Oxford History of the Novel in English: Volume 2: English and British Fiction 1750-1820
Year: 2015
Pages: 495-512
Print publication date: 01/01/2015
Online publication date: 01/06/2018
Acceptance date: 01/01/1900
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Place Published: Oxford
URL: https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780199574803.003.0027
DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780199574803.003.0027
Library holdings: Search Newcastle University Library for this item
ISBN: 9780199574803