Children and Juvenile Literature of the Third Reich as an Instrument of Nazi Identity Formation

The article examines the role of children and juvenile literature of the Third Reich in the development of Nazi identity. In German culture of the 1930s, the image of childhood developed during the period of the Weimar Republic underwent dramatic changes. As the Third Reich was proclaimed “the Youth...

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Main Author: Anna V. Dobryashkina
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Russian Academy of Sciences, A.M. Gorky Institute of World Literature 2018-06-01
Series:Studia Litterarum
Subjects:
Online Access:http://studlit.ru/images/2018-3-2/Dobryashkina.pdf
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author Anna V. Dobryashkina
author_facet Anna V. Dobryashkina
author_sort Anna V. Dobryashkina
collection DOAJ
description The article examines the role of children and juvenile literature of the Third Reich in the development of Nazi identity. In German culture of the 1930s, the image of childhood developed during the period of the Weimar Republic underwent dramatic changes. As the Third Reich was proclaimed “the Youth Reich” (das jugendliche Reich), childhood lost its autonomy and merged with “youth,” the key concept of the Nazi era. Youth, in turn, was more than age category; it implied a certain worldview, or a specific life position that all age groups of Nazi society had to adhere to. Children and adolescents aged 10-18 years old joined the Hitler Youth, the largest organization in the world, and became carriers of the new ideology. Literature for children and adolescents of the Third Reich significantly expanded its boundaries: now it included literary works written for adults, and also those written before 1933. “Expanded borders,” therefore, implied multiple cases of intersection between children and adult literature, interpenetration and coexistence of these literatures within the cultural ambience of the Nazi period. Despite the fact that the entire system of education and upbringing fostered indoctrination while literature was one but not the only one factor in the development of the new identity in this multilevel system, it was literature that legitimized children’s refusal to follow their personal interests and encouraged their engagement in the propagated ideological system.
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spelling doaj-art-bb5de0de1baf4554807c85ad2c4911d12025-08-20T02:18:50ZengRussian Academy of Sciences, A.M. Gorky Institute of World LiteratureStudia Litterarum2500-42472541-85642018-06-0132526510.22455/2500-4247-2018-3-2-52-65Children and Juvenile Literature of the Third Reich as an Instrument of Nazi Identity FormationAnna V. Dobryashkina0A.M. Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of SciencesThe article examines the role of children and juvenile literature of the Third Reich in the development of Nazi identity. In German culture of the 1930s, the image of childhood developed during the period of the Weimar Republic underwent dramatic changes. As the Third Reich was proclaimed “the Youth Reich” (das jugendliche Reich), childhood lost its autonomy and merged with “youth,” the key concept of the Nazi era. Youth, in turn, was more than age category; it implied a certain worldview, or a specific life position that all age groups of Nazi society had to adhere to. Children and adolescents aged 10-18 years old joined the Hitler Youth, the largest organization in the world, and became carriers of the new ideology. Literature for children and adolescents of the Third Reich significantly expanded its boundaries: now it included literary works written for adults, and also those written before 1933. “Expanded borders,” therefore, implied multiple cases of intersection between children and adult literature, interpenetration and coexistence of these literatures within the cultural ambience of the Nazi period. Despite the fact that the entire system of education and upbringing fostered indoctrination while literature was one but not the only one factor in the development of the new identity in this multilevel system, it was literature that legitimized children’s refusal to follow their personal interests and encouraged their engagement in the propagated ideological system.http://studlit.ru/images/2018-3-2/Dobryashkina.pdfGerman literaturechildren and juvenile literaturethe Third ReichHitler’s YouthNazismindoctrination
spellingShingle Anna V. Dobryashkina
Children and Juvenile Literature of the Third Reich as an Instrument of Nazi Identity Formation
Studia Litterarum
German literature
children and juvenile literature
the Third Reich
Hitler’s Youth
Nazism
indoctrination
title Children and Juvenile Literature of the Third Reich as an Instrument of Nazi Identity Formation
title_full Children and Juvenile Literature of the Third Reich as an Instrument of Nazi Identity Formation
title_fullStr Children and Juvenile Literature of the Third Reich as an Instrument of Nazi Identity Formation
title_full_unstemmed Children and Juvenile Literature of the Third Reich as an Instrument of Nazi Identity Formation
title_short Children and Juvenile Literature of the Third Reich as an Instrument of Nazi Identity Formation
title_sort children and juvenile literature of the third reich as an instrument of nazi identity formation
topic German literature
children and juvenile literature
the Third Reich
Hitler’s Youth
Nazism
indoctrination
url http://studlit.ru/images/2018-3-2/Dobryashkina.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT annavdobryashkina childrenandjuvenileliteratureofthethirdreichasaninstrumentofnaziidentityformation