Des histoires de locomotives
This article attempts to explain how a heavy, black industrial machine like the locomotive became one of the most desirable toys, a companion, an ally, and a hero in children's books, and tries to identify what is at work through such a reversal. Freed from its utilitarian and mercantile attach...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | fra |
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Association Française de Recherche sur les Livres et les Objets Culturels de l’Enfance (AFRELOCE)
2021-06-01
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| Series: | Strenae |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/strenae/278 |
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| Summary: | This article attempts to explain how a heavy, black industrial machine like the locomotive became one of the most desirable toys, a companion, an ally, and a hero in children's books, and tries to identify what is at work through such a reversal. Freed from its utilitarian and mercantile attachments, miniaturized, and immortalized in an obsolete form, the locomotive still remains however fundamentally linked to the world of work and to human activities in general, as is the case for many toys. It combines power and regularity, continuity, the unknown, adventure and security. We push it, we pull it, and it pulls us in turn, projecting us into the future without forcing us to deny our childhood dreams. All possibilities resonate within its chugging song, while its imponderable steam symbolizes the miracle of momentum. |
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| ISSN: | 2109-9081 |