This master's thesis addresses problematic themes in children's and young adult literature, with
the research focusing on the diary written between 7 July 1942 and December 1944 by the
twelve-year-old Slavko Preložnik.
The impetus for this research is found in diary entries written by children during the Second
World War. Among the best-known works of this kind is certainly the diary of Anne Frank. In
the Slovenian context a comparable testimony is presented by the diary of Slavko Preložnik,
entitled Doživljaji od tedaj, ko so mi ata odpeljali (Experiences from When They Took My Dad
Away), published in Stane Terčak's 1973 book Ukradeni otroci (Stolen Children).
The diary of Slavko Preložnik represents a unique testimony of a Slovenian child who lost his
father and subsequently also lost his mother. Slavko, together with his brother and sister, was
taken to various children's camps throughout Germany. The text has particular historical value,
as it reveals, through a child's perspective, the consequences of war, the loss of family, the loss
of security, famine, fear, uncertainty, and life in a camp.
The master's thesis consists of three parts: an introduction, a theoretical part, and an empirical
part. In the introductory part, the purpose and aim of the thesis are specified. The theoretical
part defines the concepts of children's and youth literature and children's and youth literature
dealing with problem themes, with particular focus on the child as author. Special emphasis is
also placed on the characteristics of the short contemporary fairy tale featuring a child as the
main literary character, as defined by Marjana Kobe. The thesis also examines the extent to
which these characteristics can be recognized in the diary.
The first part of the empirical section comprises a qualitative literary analysis of Slavko
Preložnik's diary. This analysis is conducted on the basis of selected characteristics of the short
contemporary fairy tale according to Marjana Kobe, namely the literary character, the time and
place of the action, the theme and the message. Through this analysis, the thesis aims to
determine whether the diary, in certain respects, approaches the model of the contemporary
short fairy tale, particularly through the perspective of the child narrator and first-person
narration. At the same time, it deviates from the fairy-tale model, since the text does not contain
an unreal level of events, as the narrative is based on real events and historical facts.
The second part of the empirical research presents a method for working with selected texts
from the diary with third-grade pupils. Together with the pupils, a comic strip was created in
which we attempted to depict scenes from life in the camp. This is followed by a brief
evaluation and commentary on the resulting comic strip.
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