CFP. Issue 27. Сhildren's literature on media carriers

2025-01-17

Dear colleagues,

We want to dedicate the 28th issue of Children's Readings to children's literature on various media carriers.

Despite researchers' understandable preference for studying printed texts for children, the history of children's literature in the 20th century cannot be written based solely on "paper" books. Literary works for children were also distributed as film adaptations and various forms of video and audio recordings, with video and voice versions often becoming the most widespread way for audiences to become familiar with Buratino, Winnie the Pooh, Alisa Selezneva, and other literary characters.

The development of sound and video transmission technologies, which began with the emergence of the first children's radio programs and films in the 1920s, continued in the second half of the 20th century with the production and distribution of home audio and video playback devices: filmstrip projectors, record players, reel-to-reel and cassette tape recorders, slide and video projectors. All these devices not only became relays of literary texts but were used to create new artistic works for children's audiences. Recording studios didn't just read texts but created radio plays, which were then reproduced on vinyl records, reel tapes, cassettes, and discs. Animated films made at film and television studios were shown in cinemas and on television, while songs and music from cartoons were released on vinyl records, audio cassettes, and audio discs. Some technologies coexisted in time and transmitted the same texts in forms adapted for specific media formats, while others changed texts progressively, such as when slide projectors were replaced by home video projectors.

The history of such forms of children's literature has been little studied to date. Existing research related to this topic is mainly devoted to film adaptations of literary works, and less frequently to theatrical productions. The audio profile of children's literature usually escapes researchers' attention.

To begin collecting, describing, and systematizing this vast and diverse material, we should pay attention to:

  • Children's literature and verbal texts on various media carriers

  • Media genres: filmstrip, radio play, animation, etc.

  • Various media carriers: film, vinyl record, reel tape, audio cassette, CD and DVD discs, relief-dot publications and tactile books for the blind

  • Authors of media texts for children: screenwriters, sound directors, slide material artists, cinematographers, composers, voice actors, editors, etc.

  • Sound, slide, and film production institutions for children

In the 28th issue, we would like to discuss the following questions:

  • What is the composition of original works for children created for specific media formats? How did this composition change?

  • Which children's literature works were distributed on media carriers? What could determine the choice of certain works for transfer to filmstrip, vinyl record, etc.?

  • What transformations did the original literary texts undergo during transfer? How did the text change in various genres and forms of publications (including specific examples)?

  • How did the audio, visual, and verbal images of the text relate to each other (using specific examples)?

  • How did screenwriters, editors, and sound directors interact while creating works addressed to child listeners?

  • How was the principle of seriality embodied in media publications: series of records, filmstrips, audio discs, etc.? What could be its basis?

  • How was attention drawn to media publications (external design of media texts, use of additional inserts, forms of discussion and criticism of media publications, etc.)?

  • What are the specifics of children's audio publications for blind listeners?

  • How are media carriers used in educational practice? How did the history of phonochrestomathies develop?

We invite you to participate. Please inform colleagues who may be interested in these topics. In addition to submitting articles on the given topics, we welcome materials for the journal's REVIEWS, ARCHIVES, and INTERVIEWS sections.

Our journal's website: http://detskie-chtenia.ru Please send proposed articles to the editorial board: detskie.chtenia@gmail.com Article formatting requirements: http://detskie-chtenia.ru/index.php/journal/about/submissions Article length: within 40,000 characters Deadline for article submission - July 15, 2025 The issue will be published in December 2025.

We invite you to collaborate,

DCh Editorial Board