Panel 3- The Heads behind Tales: Producing Children's Literature
For Children, With Respect
“Good children’s writing doesn’t care about adults.” — Subhadra Sengupta
The second day of the Annual Conference of the English Department ‘No Child’s Play’ began with third panel titled “The Heads Behind the Tales: Producing Children’s Literature.” Moderated by Ms Maitreyee Mandal, and with speakers like Ms Subhadra Sengupta, Mr Ranjan De, Ms Anurima Chanda, Ms Sayoni Basu and Ms Sanyukta Saha, this was surely one of the most entertaining and educational panels of the conference.
A common strain of thought among the panelists was the relationship between adults and children and how children’s literature should make the world something that the kids can understand so that they can negotiate with the real world. This, they said, would require keeping the adults as far away as possible. Ms Anurima Chanda commented on how children’s literature is often driven by parental anxieties—there is a greater focus on what it shouldn’t be, rather than what it should. If the focus remains on adult insecurities rather than children’s interests, there will never be a scope to understand how and why children learn like they do.
The most interesting about all the panelists was their subversion of parental expectations. Whether it was Mr Ranjan De’s use of sketch pens for creating art when he was specifically told not to, or Ms Sanyukta Saha’s theatre for babies (and their parents), or even Ms Sayoni Basu’s venture to establish a publication house specifically for urban Indian children, the adult panelists were concerned more about their specific audiences: the children, their age groups, and what entertained them the most. Ms Subhadra Sengupta even went on to say that there is no joy like creating for children for their responses to her writing are the most genuine criticism she had ever received.
In conclusion, there was a unifying call by almost all the panelists to actively engage with their target audiences. They emphasized on the importance of understanding children by having “learnshops” and “empowershops” for art, theatre and writing. The panelists also spoke about how they ventured beyond their adult circle of instructive teaching and learned to develop a new respect for their audience—the children.
The very notion of childhood seems to break when there is a questioning of why children are on the lowest rungs of the artistic output. To most adults, including parents, children seem to be those who must be taught rather than individuals one can learn from. But with the rise of independent publishing houses and experimental artforms, the emphasis is changing, and now lies on bridging the gap between a world that is messy and chaotic and a world that children can find ways to understand, interact, and negotiate with. And that is truly the need of the hour.
Arundhati Subhedar, 2A
“Good children’s writing doesn’t care about adults.” — Subhadra Sengupta
The second day of the Annual Conference of the English Department ‘No Child’s Play’ began with third panel titled “The Heads Behind the Tales: Producing Children’s Literature.” Moderated by Ms Maitreyee Mandal, and with speakers like Ms Subhadra Sengupta, Mr Ranjan De, Ms Anurima Chanda, Ms Sayoni Basu and Ms Sanyukta Saha, this was surely one of the most entertaining and educational panels of the conference.
A common strain of thought among the panelists was the relationship between adults and children and how children’s literature should make the world something that the kids can understand so that they can negotiate with the real world. This, they said, would require keeping the adults as far away as possible. Ms Anurima Chanda commented on how children’s literature is often driven by parental anxieties—there is a greater focus on what it shouldn’t be, rather than what it should. If the focus remains on adult insecurities rather than children’s interests, there will never be a scope to understand how and why children learn like they do.
The most interesting about all the panelists was their subversion of parental expectations. Whether it was Mr Ranjan De’s use of sketch pens for creating art when he was specifically told not to, or Ms Sanyukta Saha’s theatre for babies (and their parents), or even Ms Sayoni Basu’s venture to establish a publication house specifically for urban Indian children, the adult panelists were concerned more about their specific audiences: the children, their age groups, and what entertained them the most. Ms Subhadra Sengupta even went on to say that there is no joy like creating for children for their responses to her writing are the most genuine criticism she had ever received.
In conclusion, there was a unifying call by almost all the panelists to actively engage with their target audiences. They emphasized on the importance of understanding children by having “learnshops” and “empowershops” for art, theatre and writing. The panelists also spoke about how they ventured beyond their adult circle of instructive teaching and learned to develop a new respect for their audience—the children.
The very notion of childhood seems to break when there is a questioning of why children are on the lowest rungs of the artistic output. To most adults, including parents, children seem to be those who must be taught rather than individuals one can learn from. But with the rise of independent publishing houses and experimental artforms, the emphasis is changing, and now lies on bridging the gap between a world that is messy and chaotic and a world that children can find ways to understand, interact, and negotiate with. And that is truly the need of the hour.
Arundhati Subhedar, 2A
|
|
Art Has No Age – Theatre for Babies
"I am always deeply surprised by the seriousness of infant spectators. Babies do not understand, they absorb the sound of voices, the music of words, anxiety, fear, grief, violence, love; they absorb them all.” – Francoise Gerbaulet, French Theatre Maker
Baby Bink’s hilarious adventures in the popular movie Baby’s Day Out bears testimony to the fact that the kind of culture which infants are assimilated to in their early years—in this case the book that Norby reads to Baby Bink everyday—can significantly impact the way in which they negotiate with the adult world. While talking about literatures and/for children and childhoods in contemporary India during the course of the conference, a lot of the discourse was around what children read or are read to by adults. Various kinds of illustrations in/for children’s books were also dissected and discussed extensively during all the panel discussions. However, in all these sessions, it was presumed that the children being referred to were at least above the age of four and had the pre-requisite cognitive development to understand the aforementioned things.
In this light, the third panel on the second day of the conference saw the unique confluence of two aspects of children’s literature which had not been touched upon previously—forms of literature for children below the age of four and the performative facet of children’s literature. Dwelling on the idea of how multiple realities give rise to multiple childhoods, Sanyukta Saha talked about her work in trying to bring out unheard stories through the language of drama in “The Heads behind the Tales: Producing Children’s Literature.” A fascinating bit of her presentation was about how she had come up with a theatre for babies who were between the ages of six to eighteen months.
‘Theatre for Babies’ is still a relatively new concept. It is a specially designed and customized theatre experience for babies who usually sit on their caregiver's lap or in a stroller and watch the play. Various form of mainstream performance art like opera, musical theatre, puppetry, art installations, picture books and even fairy tales have provided inspiration for narrative productions for babies. This is an important emerging cultural practice because psychologists around the world unanimously agree on the fact that the pre-natal and natal stages of childhood, along with the early years of development till five years of age, are critical for the complete and healthy cognitive, emotional and physical growth of children.
Through significant empirical research done in the field of Developmental Psychology in the past decade, we now know for sure that exposure to art and culture in the “early years” leads to the development of key pathways in the brain which children carry into their adulthood. Thus, while looking at children’s narratives and literatures it is important that we pay heed to the varied forms of cultural experiences which shape a child’s reality. This may include going beyond books to understand how aesthetic narratives impact and shape their world-view. It will also mean including narrative productions for babies within the wider ambit of literatures for children.
A common idea that was reiterated throughout the conference was the extensive didactic tone and content of children’s literature. Whatever insight we have into the world of children is through the eyes of adults. One can never truly know the complexities (or lack thereof) of emotional responses which children, especially toddlers, manifest because they lack the vocabulary to articulate it for themselves. Hence, it is always coloured by an adult perspective which looms large over children’s books and narratives. By broadening the scope and horizon of understanding and analyzing literatures for children, we can at least hope for a better insight into a child’s world.
Ankita Adak, 2A
"I am always deeply surprised by the seriousness of infant spectators. Babies do not understand, they absorb the sound of voices, the music of words, anxiety, fear, grief, violence, love; they absorb them all.” – Francoise Gerbaulet, French Theatre Maker
Baby Bink’s hilarious adventures in the popular movie Baby’s Day Out bears testimony to the fact that the kind of culture which infants are assimilated to in their early years—in this case the book that Norby reads to Baby Bink everyday—can significantly impact the way in which they negotiate with the adult world. While talking about literatures and/for children and childhoods in contemporary India during the course of the conference, a lot of the discourse was around what children read or are read to by adults. Various kinds of illustrations in/for children’s books were also dissected and discussed extensively during all the panel discussions. However, in all these sessions, it was presumed that the children being referred to were at least above the age of four and had the pre-requisite cognitive development to understand the aforementioned things.
In this light, the third panel on the second day of the conference saw the unique confluence of two aspects of children’s literature which had not been touched upon previously—forms of literature for children below the age of four and the performative facet of children’s literature. Dwelling on the idea of how multiple realities give rise to multiple childhoods, Sanyukta Saha talked about her work in trying to bring out unheard stories through the language of drama in “The Heads behind the Tales: Producing Children’s Literature.” A fascinating bit of her presentation was about how she had come up with a theatre for babies who were between the ages of six to eighteen months.
‘Theatre for Babies’ is still a relatively new concept. It is a specially designed and customized theatre experience for babies who usually sit on their caregiver's lap or in a stroller and watch the play. Various form of mainstream performance art like opera, musical theatre, puppetry, art installations, picture books and even fairy tales have provided inspiration for narrative productions for babies. This is an important emerging cultural practice because psychologists around the world unanimously agree on the fact that the pre-natal and natal stages of childhood, along with the early years of development till five years of age, are critical for the complete and healthy cognitive, emotional and physical growth of children.
Through significant empirical research done in the field of Developmental Psychology in the past decade, we now know for sure that exposure to art and culture in the “early years” leads to the development of key pathways in the brain which children carry into their adulthood. Thus, while looking at children’s narratives and literatures it is important that we pay heed to the varied forms of cultural experiences which shape a child’s reality. This may include going beyond books to understand how aesthetic narratives impact and shape their world-view. It will also mean including narrative productions for babies within the wider ambit of literatures for children.
A common idea that was reiterated throughout the conference was the extensive didactic tone and content of children’s literature. Whatever insight we have into the world of children is through the eyes of adults. One can never truly know the complexities (or lack thereof) of emotional responses which children, especially toddlers, manifest because they lack the vocabulary to articulate it for themselves. Hence, it is always coloured by an adult perspective which looms large over children’s books and narratives. By broadening the scope and horizon of understanding and analyzing literatures for children, we can at least hope for a better insight into a child’s world.
Ankita Adak, 2A
Student Performance: Rashkin Adapted-Part 2
Student Performance on Alexander Raskin: “I Must Not Tell Lies”
“So you see, none of these stories were invented. They all actually happened.” – Alexander Raskin
Children’s literatures in India includes, along with literature written in regional languages, literatures written in various parts of the world, in various languages, that have been circulated and made their way into our bookshelves. To explore how Indian readers interpret literature written for other countries, the second day of ‘No Child’s Play’ saw a student performance based on the works of Alexander Raskin. Raskin was a Russian writer whose works were disseminated among the Indian audience during the Cold War. The ‘Reader’s Theatre’ style performance of a short story from When Daddy Was a Little Boy was a comically moving account of how children negotiate with the often-arbitrary rules that the adult world imposes on them.
Daddy, played by Preeti Gokhale, is terrible at telling lies: when he tells lies, ‘they are written on his face’. Daddy’s lies are mostly the little white lies that childhood is so full of: he tries to lie about the cumbersome task of washing his ears and of swallowing cod-liver oil. However, because of his inability to lie convincingly, he resolves to never tell lies, and only tell the truth. The fact that this ends in small disasters is unsurprising to anyone. What bears thinking about, however, is the fact that while children are taught to never tell lies, they are also expected to understand that lying is acceptable in certain situations. This effectively shows us the complicated social dynamics that are further complicated for children, as they are sometimes expected to stay away from them, and sometimes expected to participate in them.
For Daddy, this happens when, as a part of his resolution to always tell the truth, he ends up offending his grandmother’s friend, by telling her that he does not like her because she has a wart on her face. His grandmother, played by Devyani Chhetri (who also slipped into the roles of narrator and grandmother with equal ease), tells him that while he must not lie, there is no need to tell the whole truth always, as he might end up hurting someone’s feelings. This episode also exposes how socialization takes place, as the child dislikes someone based on the values society places on appearance.
Through the extremely engaging presentation of interstices in Daddy’s life, aided and abetted along the way by his grandparents, the performance demonstrated how children perceive the adult world of rules and regulations. It refused to provide a solution to Daddy’s problem, and left viewers thinking about problems in their childhood which seems so insurmountable.
Anushmita Mohanty, 3B
“So you see, none of these stories were invented. They all actually happened.” – Alexander Raskin
Children’s literatures in India includes, along with literature written in regional languages, literatures written in various parts of the world, in various languages, that have been circulated and made their way into our bookshelves. To explore how Indian readers interpret literature written for other countries, the second day of ‘No Child’s Play’ saw a student performance based on the works of Alexander Raskin. Raskin was a Russian writer whose works were disseminated among the Indian audience during the Cold War. The ‘Reader’s Theatre’ style performance of a short story from When Daddy Was a Little Boy was a comically moving account of how children negotiate with the often-arbitrary rules that the adult world imposes on them.
Daddy, played by Preeti Gokhale, is terrible at telling lies: when he tells lies, ‘they are written on his face’. Daddy’s lies are mostly the little white lies that childhood is so full of: he tries to lie about the cumbersome task of washing his ears and of swallowing cod-liver oil. However, because of his inability to lie convincingly, he resolves to never tell lies, and only tell the truth. The fact that this ends in small disasters is unsurprising to anyone. What bears thinking about, however, is the fact that while children are taught to never tell lies, they are also expected to understand that lying is acceptable in certain situations. This effectively shows us the complicated social dynamics that are further complicated for children, as they are sometimes expected to stay away from them, and sometimes expected to participate in them.
For Daddy, this happens when, as a part of his resolution to always tell the truth, he ends up offending his grandmother’s friend, by telling her that he does not like her because she has a wart on her face. His grandmother, played by Devyani Chhetri (who also slipped into the roles of narrator and grandmother with equal ease), tells him that while he must not lie, there is no need to tell the whole truth always, as he might end up hurting someone’s feelings. This episode also exposes how socialization takes place, as the child dislikes someone based on the values society places on appearance.
Through the extremely engaging presentation of interstices in Daddy’s life, aided and abetted along the way by his grandparents, the performance demonstrated how children perceive the adult world of rules and regulations. It refused to provide a solution to Daddy’s problem, and left viewers thinking about problems in their childhood which seems so insurmountable.
Anushmita Mohanty, 3B
Panel 4- Lapping it Up: Reading Indian Children's Literature
The Literary Gatekeepers
The final panel discussion of the Annual English Department Conference was titled "Lapping it Up: Reading Indian Children's Literature" and it looked at the nuances of how a child receives literature along with the cognitive impacts that literary texts have on a child’s environment .
Dr. Tanu Shree Singh, the first speaker of the panel, began her speech by pointing out the issue with representation in children’s literature. Stories or narratives around children living in conflict-ridden areas or indigenous tribal groups do not get usually get featured in “mainstream” children’s literature. This is because of the society’s tendency to filter the kind of content that children consume because such stories are deemed “inappropriate” for children. In this light, Dr Tara emphasized on the importance of incorporating diverse realities in children’s books so that it rightly mirrors the society we live in and makes children cognizant of the world around them.
Dr Tara also mentioned how a book passes through three levels of gatekeeping before it reaches children. The first gatekeeper are the writers who have the liberty to dexterously weave a narrative in a way they want to. Thus, Dr Tara mentioned that the onus of responsibility lies on the writer to create inclusive literature, in a way that they do justice to the subject that they deal with.
The publishers are the second gatekeepers. The publishers, driven by the commercial aspect of books, publish only what is not problematic and invite more readers. The third gate keepers in the process are ultimately the parents or the bookstores. The involvement of parents in picking up books for their children clearly indicates the control that they want to have in their child's thinking process. The impact and the content of the book on the psyche of the children is monitored by the parental authority, thus limiting their mental growth. The differentiation of books in terms of Indian and International authors in bookstores leads to a vicious cycle. The books in the shelves which do not get promoted enough are taken down and the readership of those books decline drastically. The bookshops thus cannot be regarded as an open and inclusive forum.
Dr. Tanu Shree concluded her conversation by stressing on the need to break the barriers that do not allow a free flow of information to the children. The society needs to realise that there is a need to push the content of the texts and make it real with the help of extensive research. The online forums and literary festivals enhance the interaction between the child and the text and attempts to provide what the industry provides for them.
Akshita Ajitsariya, English 1B
The final panel discussion of the Annual English Department Conference was titled "Lapping it Up: Reading Indian Children's Literature" and it looked at the nuances of how a child receives literature along with the cognitive impacts that literary texts have on a child’s environment .
Dr. Tanu Shree Singh, the first speaker of the panel, began her speech by pointing out the issue with representation in children’s literature. Stories or narratives around children living in conflict-ridden areas or indigenous tribal groups do not get usually get featured in “mainstream” children’s literature. This is because of the society’s tendency to filter the kind of content that children consume because such stories are deemed “inappropriate” for children. In this light, Dr Tara emphasized on the importance of incorporating diverse realities in children’s books so that it rightly mirrors the society we live in and makes children cognizant of the world around them.
Dr Tara also mentioned how a book passes through three levels of gatekeeping before it reaches children. The first gatekeeper are the writers who have the liberty to dexterously weave a narrative in a way they want to. Thus, Dr Tara mentioned that the onus of responsibility lies on the writer to create inclusive literature, in a way that they do justice to the subject that they deal with.
The publishers are the second gatekeepers. The publishers, driven by the commercial aspect of books, publish only what is not problematic and invite more readers. The third gate keepers in the process are ultimately the parents or the bookstores. The involvement of parents in picking up books for their children clearly indicates the control that they want to have in their child's thinking process. The impact and the content of the book on the psyche of the children is monitored by the parental authority, thus limiting their mental growth. The differentiation of books in terms of Indian and International authors in bookstores leads to a vicious cycle. The books in the shelves which do not get promoted enough are taken down and the readership of those books decline drastically. The bookshops thus cannot be regarded as an open and inclusive forum.
Dr. Tanu Shree concluded her conversation by stressing on the need to break the barriers that do not allow a free flow of information to the children. The society needs to realise that there is a need to push the content of the texts and make it real with the help of extensive research. The online forums and literary festivals enhance the interaction between the child and the text and attempts to provide what the industry provides for them.
Akshita Ajitsariya, English 1B
Student Performance: See-Song
The Songs of Childhood
The English Department Conference entitled ‘No Child’s Play’ organized a student’s performance called ‘See-Song’ which delved into the idea of childhood through a Mohiniyattam dance performance accompanied by lullabies in three regional languages, namely Malyalam, Rajasthani and Bengali.
The performers brought together their own childhood experiences to create a transcultural milieu of lullabies. A lullaby is the first and most intimate interaction the child has with the world. It begins with a child’s attachment to his primary caretaker, usually the mother in the Indian context and evolves into more symbolic representations featuring gods, religion and the mystic,and ultimately ends with the child's interactions with the outside world in the form of play.
The audience was taken on a journey into the world of the child and watched the child as he crossed the different stages in his physical and emotional development. Interestingly, the performance also portrayed how a child is introduced to different forms of intimacy even before they are familiar with a particular language. The first two dance pieces were from the perspective of the mother because they focused on the infantile stage. This also hinted at how lullabies are a medium for the adults as much as it is for the child.
The first song in Malayalam explored the bond shared by a mother and her child, and the way it strengthens as the child grows. The Rajasthani song depicted a spiritual aspect of the mother and child relationship through the representation of Krishna and Yashodha. A child is slowly acquainted with societal institutions like religion through song. The last song, in Bengali, was a call for play to the children, asking them to come out into the world and into the domain of nature. The connecting link between the three was the dance, a physical depiction of how children flow from one station of life to the next.
What began as a haphazard brainstorming session of what they remembered of their childhoods and the feelings they associated with that confusing little period of growing up, ended in a colourful medley. Through the use of music, words and dance, they helped the audience travel back in time to simpler days of warmth, sleep and play.
The performers shared the process involved in curating the piece and stringing together the three different lullabies. The audience's response was one of extreme emotion and they wholeheartedly admired the diversity of the performance, as well as the skillfully composed dance narrative technique.
Ishani Pant, 1A
Shanna Jain, 1B
The English Department Conference entitled ‘No Child’s Play’ organized a student’s performance called ‘See-Song’ which delved into the idea of childhood through a Mohiniyattam dance performance accompanied by lullabies in three regional languages, namely Malyalam, Rajasthani and Bengali.
The performers brought together their own childhood experiences to create a transcultural milieu of lullabies. A lullaby is the first and most intimate interaction the child has with the world. It begins with a child’s attachment to his primary caretaker, usually the mother in the Indian context and evolves into more symbolic representations featuring gods, religion and the mystic,and ultimately ends with the child's interactions with the outside world in the form of play.
The audience was taken on a journey into the world of the child and watched the child as he crossed the different stages in his physical and emotional development. Interestingly, the performance also portrayed how a child is introduced to different forms of intimacy even before they are familiar with a particular language. The first two dance pieces were from the perspective of the mother because they focused on the infantile stage. This also hinted at how lullabies are a medium for the adults as much as it is for the child.
The first song in Malayalam explored the bond shared by a mother and her child, and the way it strengthens as the child grows. The Rajasthani song depicted a spiritual aspect of the mother and child relationship through the representation of Krishna and Yashodha. A child is slowly acquainted with societal institutions like religion through song. The last song, in Bengali, was a call for play to the children, asking them to come out into the world and into the domain of nature. The connecting link between the three was the dance, a physical depiction of how children flow from one station of life to the next.
What began as a haphazard brainstorming session of what they remembered of their childhoods and the feelings they associated with that confusing little period of growing up, ended in a colourful medley. Through the use of music, words and dance, they helped the audience travel back in time to simpler days of warmth, sleep and play.
The performers shared the process involved in curating the piece and stringing together the three different lullabies. The audience's response was one of extreme emotion and they wholeheartedly admired the diversity of the performance, as well as the skillfully composed dance narrative technique.
Ishani Pant, 1A
Shanna Jain, 1B