'But it's only a children's book' - children's literature as a vehicle of manipulative ideological dissemination

The historical era between 1850 and 1950 is known to be a turbulent period reflected not only in adult literature but also in the texts written for children. This unusually rich period in terms of political, social and ideological development certainly influenced most parts of the world. However, it was particularly important for England mainly for the transition of the Victorian era and Edwardian period to the modern history initiated by the WW I. Throughout this period many new ideologies arose and scientific discoveries were more numerous than ever. In 1859, for instance, Darwin's On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection was published and initiated the still on-going war period between Christianity and science. At the same time, the concept of childhood started to be understood in a different way and books written for children became a common commodity converting the end of 18th century in the Golden Age of children's literature. However, according to Peter Hunt's publication Understanding Children's Literature, 'all texts are inevitably infused by ideologies'. Therefore, the aim of this thesis is firstly, to study the way in which ideologies are incorporated in the texts for children (overt or covert) and secondly, the extent to which the texts for children become a vehicle of..