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Abstract
Informed by the idea that controversies reflect and thus help retrace the historically changing systems of norms in a given culture (since they often stem from attempts to transgress those norms), this chapter analyses selected examples of controversial publishing ventures on the Polish children’s book market in the 20th and early 21st century. The analysis seeks to establish to what extent adult mediators’ social expectations resulting from cultural conceptualisations of the child and childhood influence the book market and shape its mechanisms. The phenomena under discussion include both exemplary sources of controversy on the Polish children’s book market and the use of (potential) controversy as a strategy in publishing activities.
Abstract
The introduction discusses the potential of the controversy concept as a research tool and examines its application in children’s literature studies. From an identification of reasons why the lens of controversy constitutes a promising approach for investigating particular aspects of literature for children and young adults, the chapter proceeds to outlining the structure of the book.