The master’s thesis explores the topic of homosexuality in five selected picture books: Toot & Puddle by author and illustrator Holly Hobbie, 1997; Alles Familie! (All Families) by author Alexandra Maxeiner, illustrated by Anke Kuhl, 2012; Prva ljubezen (First Love) by author Brane Mozetič, illustrated by Maja Kastelic, 2014; And Tango Makes Three by authors Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson, illustrated by Henry Cole, 2010; and Amigos Y Vecinos (Friends and Neighbours) by author Lawrence Schimel, illustrated by Sara Rojo Pérez, 2008. Four of these works are fiction (Toot & Puddle, First Love, And Tango Makes Three and Friends and Neighbours) and one educational picture book (All Families) on the topic of homosexuality – expressed through relationships between animal characters or between children and adults.
The theoretical part includes the definition of youth literature according to authors Marjana Kobe, Milena Mileva Blažić and Igor Saksida, of picture book according to Dragica Haramija and Janja Batič, and of literary characters according to Marjana Kobe. As the selected picture books depict the topic of homosexuality, we first defined the concept of differences, with their representation in literature and in schools, and described the ways of expressing intolerance, for example through views, stereotypes and prejudices. We focused in greater detail on a particular form of differences, i.e. homosexuality – by explaining the acronym LGBT, introducing the concepts of homosexuality, same-sex family and homophobia, and describing to what extent the topic of homosexuality is included in literature and in schools. To discuss the topic homosexuality as it is expressed in literature, we focused on the factors of problem-based literature according to Igor Saksida’s theory and on the quality book criteria according to Dragica Haramija’s recommendations.
The empirical part analyses the five selected picture books using quality literary analysis. The aim was to determine which literary characters and which features of problem-based literature are represented in the picture books, and how prejudices are expressed in the text. We investigated the appropriateness of the picture books based on the quality criteria, examined, more precisely, the interaction between the text and the illustrations, and identified whether the picture books include more educational or fictional elements.
The results of the detailed analysis revealed that the main literary characters in the selected picture books are children or animals with different roles. We found that the books include some of the features of problem-based literature, but not all. The detailed analysis also showed that the views on homosexuality – both positive and negative – are expressed only in some of the picture books. We noticed a harmonised interaction between the text and the illustrations, and found more educational than fictional elements in two of the selected picture books. By analysing all of the above, we were able to evaluate which picture books are more appropriate for the first triad.
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