Deconstructing Gender: Picturebooks for Children in India
Keywords:
Indian picturebooks, gender identity, children’s literature, gender representationAbstract
Drawing their potential from their multimodality, picturebooks have historically served as agents of socialization, conditioning children into the mores and norms of society. Countering the dismissive attitudes towards picturebooks, the paper argues that picturebooks are powerful vehicles, not only reflecting societal perceptions of gender but also actively shaping children's understanding of identity and possibility. Focusing on gender representation within Indian context, this paper analyzes two contemporary Indian picturebooks,
both published by Tara: The Toy Story and Today is My Day. Employing a close reading approach, this paper seeks to understand how these specific picturebooks contribute to constructing, reinforcing, or challenging existing gender norms.
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References
Aggarwal, D. (1997). The Toy Horse. Delhi: Children’s Book Trust.
Alderson, B. (1990). Picture book anatomy. The Lion and the Unicorn 14 (2), 108--114.
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