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Contribution to Book
International Classic Characters and National Ideologies: Pinocchio and Alice in Greece
The Nation in Children's Literature: Nations of Childhood (2012)
  • Petros Panaou, Dr, Boise State University
  • Tasoula Tsilimeni
Abstract

The transference of classic characters across the multilingual literary universe is a widespread phenomenon in international children’s literature. Characters from classic works transgress national and cultural boundaries, currying with them their national identities or forming new identities, adjusting to their new surroundings. As they engage in fresh metafi ctional adventures, their intertextual journeys (as described by Umberto Eco), and their multiple transformations, often serve national ideologies within the cultures that receive them; authors tend to invest national and cultural capital on these characters’ classic status.

Publication Date
2012
Citation Information
Panaou, P. & Tsilimeni, T. (2012). International Classic Characters and National Ideologies: Pinocchio and Alice in Greece. In C. Kelen & B. Sundmark (Eds.), The Nation in Children's Literature: Nations of Childhood (pp. 193-208). New York: Routledge.