Carnivalesque vision of an upside-down world as a tool for understanding reality in the children’s novel “The 35th of May, or Conrad’s ride to the South Seas” by Erich Kästner
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15633/tes.11312Keywords:
Erich Kästner, German children’s literature, Carnivalesque, intergenerational dialogue, a fantastic-adventure novelAbstract
The following paper concentrates on Erich Kästner’s novel “The 35th of May, or Conrad’s ride to the South Seas” as an example of a carnivalesque vision of the world that, through the suspension of established rules of reality, enables the innovative juxtaposition of well-known literary motifs. The author emphasizes the importance of imagination as a tool for stepping outside conventional patterns of cognition to discern the complexity of the surrounding world on various levels. The humorous convention of the work plays a crucial critical role, facilitating reflection on current socio-economic issues, the dangers stemming from the excessive technologization of life, pathologies in the relationships between adults and children, and the mechanisms of crafting the image of historical figures. The novel also encourages the creation of a space for intergenerational dialogue by promoting the idea of equality between children and adults.
References
Bachtin M., Twórczość Franciszka Rabelais’go a kultura ludowa średniowiecza i renesansu, tłum. A. i A. Goreniowie, Kraków 1975.
Cieślikowski J., Wielka zabawa, Wrocław 1985.
Czernow A. M., Świat na opak. Karnawalizacja w literaturze dla dzieci jako kategoria poznawcza, w: Noosfera literacka. Problemy wychowania i terapii poprzez literaturę dla dzieci, red. A. Ungeheuer-Gołąb, M. Chrobak, Rzeszów 2021, s. 181–196.
Dziemidok B., O komizmie, Warszawa 1967.
Kästner E., 35 maja albo jak Konrad pojechał konno do mórz południowych, przeł. S. Baczyńska, Warszawa 2018.
Leszczyński G., Wielkie małe książki, Poznań 2015.
Papuzińska J., Zatopione królestwo. O polskiej literaturze fantastycznej XX wieku dla dzieci i młodzieży, Łódź 2008.
Ratajczak M., „Emil i detektywi”. Zwiastun nowej jakości w literaturze dla dzieci i młodzieży, w: Arcydzieła literatury niemieckojęzycznej. Szkice — komentarze — interpretacje, t. 2, red. E. Białek, G. Kowal, Wrocław 2011, s. 131–145.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Marta Ratajczak
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain the copyright and full publishing rights without restrictions, and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
