Literary Criticism: My Scholarly Side
Back to School
While
attending the Master’s of Arts in Children’s Literature
Program at Hollins University, I rediscovered my interest in literary
criticism, which began at Oberlin College in the 1960s, where I majored
in English and American Literature. Although I had been out of
academia for a long long time (I completed a Masters Degree in Special
Education in the 1970s), the Hollin’s program reawakened my
interest. To my amazement, I enjoyed the intellectual exercise of
writing papers and began presenting at conferences and publishing
them. For a person who suffers from chronic shyness, this has
been a huge accomplishment!
After
completing my studies at Hollins, I resolved to attend a conference
once a year in order to remain current. Living in Israel makes
this rather problematic (and expensive), but so far I have made every
effort to fulfill my vow. In the process I have met wonderful
people whose burning interest in children’s literature has been
an inspiration to me.
As an independent scholar, I feel free to explore the issues that touch
me deeply and respond to them with passion. Foremost among them
is the representation of the Holocaust in children’s literature,
both English-language and Hebrew. This is the topic of my
master’s thesis at Hollins. My study of the differences and
similarities between representations of the topic in the two cultures
has been a fascinating topic. I have presented three times on this
subject at the International Conference on Holocaust Education
sponsored by Yad Vashem, as
well as other conferences. Other subjects that interest me
include folktales, fantasy, and the representation of disabilities in
children's literature, all of which I hope to explore in more detail.
If you would like to read any of my papers,
.
| Date | Conference | Title |
| July 24, 1999 | Francelia Butler Conference, Roanoke, VA | “Lilith: A Myth-in-Progress” Presented at a student organized conference at Hollins University. |
| July 2000 | Francelia Butler Conference, Roanoke, VA | “What’s Wrong With This Picture? Representations of Down Syndrome in Illustrated Children’s Books” Presented at a student organized conference at Hollins University. |
| June 22-25, 2000 | Children’s Literature Association Conference, Roanoke, VA | “Walking the Tightrope: A Consideration of Problems and Solutions in Adapting from the Oral Tradition.” For this paper, written for Dr. Tina Hanlon’s class in Hollins, I interviewed authors Julius Lester, Jane Kurtz, and William Miller. My panel chair Jill May liked the paper so much that she included it in her book. |
| 2001 | Bookbird Vol. 39, No. 1 | “Swimming the Mainstream: A Discussion of Criteria for Evaluating Children’s Literature about Disabilities.” Adapted from a paper in Dr. Jill May’s class on “Picture Book Illustration” at Hollins |
| March 20-24, 2002 | International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts | “Deconstructing the Peach: James and the Giant Peach as Post-Modern Fairy Tale.” This paper won the IAFA Graduate Student Award at the conference. I am still awaiting word that it has been published as promised. |
| 2002 | Yad Vashem 3rd International Conference on Holocaust Education | “Literary Legacy: Making Sense Out of Children’s Books About the Holocaust.” Abstract at www1.yadvashem.org/education/april_kenes/workshop/Tuesday_Session_A/eve_tal_2.html |
| January 2003 | The Lion and the Unicorn. Vol. 27, No. 1 | “Tony and the Wonderful Door: A Forgotten Classic of American Children’s Fantasy” A favorite childhood book. Paper written for Dr. C.W. Sullivan III’s class in “Fantasy and Science Fiction” at Hollins and published in The Lion and the Unicorn. 27:1 January 2003 pp.131-143. |
| June 58, 2003 | Children’s Literature Association, El Paso, TX | “Beneath the Surface: The Untranslated Uri Orlev.” In this paper I had the fun of exploring the work of one of my favorite authors and exposing his untranslated fantasies to an English-speaking audience. I was grateful for Uri Orlev’s assistance and found him to be both generous and astute. |
| April 2, 2004 | The Looking Glass Vol.8 Issue 2 | “Beneath the Surface: The Untranslated Uri Orlev.” http://www.the-looking-glass.net/rabbit/v8i2/jabberwocky.html. Article published in the online children's literature journal The Looking Glass. It can be found at: http://www.the-looking-glass.net/ |
| Aug. 8-11,2004 | Yad Vashem 4th International Conference on Holocaust Education | “How Much Should We Tell the Children? Representing Death and Suffering in Children’s Literature about the Holocaust.” http://www1.yadvashem.org/education/conference2004/Eve Tal - How Much Should We Tell the Children about the Holocaust.pdf |
| 2005 | Article in Book | “Walking the Tightrope: A Consideration of Problems and Solutions in Adapting from the Oral Tradition” in Exploring Culturally Diverse Literature for Children and Adolescents: Learning to Listen in New Ways by Darwin L. Henderson & Jill P. May. I was proud to have my paper included in Jill and Darwin’s important book. Plus some of my thoughts were included in the Final Note. |
| March 31-April 2, 2005 | Modern Critical Approaches to Children’s Literature | “Playing with Fire: Narrative Strategies in Holocaust Literature for Children” |
| June 27-29, 2006 | Yad Vashem 5th International Conference on Holocaust Education. | "Presenting the Holocaust Through Picture Books" |
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