Infància i educació literària : a propòsit de Hans Christian Andersen

Abstract

The second centennial of the birth of the writer Hans Christian Andersen (1805- 1875) which met with a rather lukewarm reception in Catalonia has generated thought on the literary value of his work and the place it should occupy in the childrens universal literature scene of the 21st Century. The anniversary also served to reappraise the figure of this romantic writer and take a newer and deeper look at the most emblematic elements of his fiction work, which has contributed, and continues to do so, to the formation of child imagery in the western world. Thus, on the occasion of this European anniversary, this article, based on an analysis of the literary value of Andersens stories, considers how an education over-hinged on rationalism, instruction and the persistence of the functional effects of learning block and restrict the space of imagination in childhood, a space that is not only necessary for the formation of sensitivity and subsequent literary education, but also indispensable vis-à-vis the training of the child's own mental universe.