The motif of play in a Croatian childrens novel

Dječja igra, kao dominantna aktivnost u životu djeteta, nezaobilazna je komponenta u dječjim romanima. Dječji roman sadržajno je i formalno fenomen inovativne poetike i u njemu se modelira dječja predodžba društvene zajednice. S obzirom na to da je dječja književnost namijenjena isključivo djeci, tematiku je potrebno modelirati svrsishodno dječjoj percepciji. Toga su bili svjesni i autori hrvatske dječje književnosti, i to već od samih početaka. Samim time, i igra je u hrvatskim dječjim romanima oduvijek imala značajnu ulogu, no pojavnost i interpretacije iste ovise o društveno-povijesnom kontekstu. Da bi se ustanovilo o kojim je razlikama riječ, u radu se proučava pristup djetetu i igri u hrvatskom dječjem romanu u razdoblju od 1913. do 1999. godine. Krenuvši od romana Ivane Brlić-Mažuranić, preko ostvaraja Jagode Truhelke, Mate Lovrka, Ivana Kušana, Hrvoja Hitreca pa sve do Sanje Pilić, Zlatka Krilića, Nikole Pulića i drugih, analizira se pristup dječjoj književnosti i dječjoj igri kroz povijest. Pojavnost i način prikazivanja igre u dječjim romanima uvjetovani su političkim i društvenim situacijama, aktualnim društvenim odnosima, rodnim stereotipima, društvenim trendovima, primjerice odnosima prema životinjama, odnosima između sela i grada i dr., no igra je, u svim svojim – ĉak i veoma različitim - oblicima, ostala najznačajnija dječja aktivnost, u romanu i izvan njega.Children's play, as a main activity in a child's life, is an unavoidable component of children's novels. In terms of content and form, the children's novel is a phenomenon of innovative poetics in which the child‘s image of the social community is modeled. Given that children's literature is intended exclusively for children, the topic needs to be modeled purposefully for children's perception. The authors of Croatian children's literature were also well aware of this from the very beginning. Therefore, play has always had a significant role in Croatian children's novels but its appearance and interpretations depend on the socio-historical context. In order to establish the differences, the paper studies the approach to the child and play in the Croatian children's novel in the period from 1913 to 1999. Starting from the novels by Ivana Brlić-Maţuranić, through the works of Jagoda Truhelka, Mate Lovrak, Ivan Kušan, Hrvoje Hitrec to Sanja Pilić, Zlatko Krilić, Nikola Pulić and others, the approach to children's literature and children's play through history is analyzed. The appearance and presentation of play in children's novels are conditioned by political and social situations, current social relations, gender stereotypes, social trends, for instance relations towards animals, relations between the village and the city, etc., but the play, in all its – even very different – forms, remained the most significant children's activity, in the novel and beyond