 |
Kartikeya Ghimire
|
Writers in the coming decade must write
children’s mind; enough has come about the writers’ mind in the name of writing
children’s literature.
When the question of children’s literature in
Nepal comes, I go back in memory to the year 1996 for reference, when I was a
student-cum-teacher. I attended my school in the morning, and taught children
during the day. My adventure into children’s literature started then. I can
still remember the titles I read with zeal those days. The lot we had in hand
was nothing more than the retelling of folk and fairy tales. The writers did
not want to be addressed as ‘writers of children’s literature.’ The genre was
still an underdeveloped one. They loved to call themselves writers of other
things, as writing for children’s literature was a derogatory profession. Most
of them projected themselves as writers for adults. They wrote with bias, with
partialities. There too were some who revered farmers more than the king.
However, children’s literature
continued to flourish. Fate decreed my career in such a way that in 2055, I was
opportune to edit Balak, a children’s magazine. This paved me a way to
keep myself engaged with children’s literature most of the time. I remember the
words of most of the senior writers those days: a writer for children must
be inspired by didactic and moral motifs.
But time turned out to be
powerful. In 2000, after I attended a workshop on children’s literature at
Dhulikhel, my understanding of children’s literature changed drastically. Even
then, a big chunk of writers who also attended the workshop did not shun the
old practice of simplifying and retelling fairy tales. Though some seminars and
discussions on the possible future direction of children’s literature ensued,
things did not change that much.
Story is more or less the
same today. Well, fairy tales have replaces by modern tales, but the underlying
motif is still didactic which is plagued by moral agenda. This presupposes that
all children are wrong, and writers should correct them. Or, it might
presuppose that the writes are police who need to discipline the children for a
great national cause. I am not against this, but this is not the only thing
about children’s literature.
Today, children’s
literature has become a field of glamour. Writers have started occupying
gorgeous stages on daily basis these days. In other words, a great and hopeful
time has dawned. But time has foisted upon us the challenge to write literature
that befits the demands of our age. We have twin problems. In one hand, we need
to compete with the ever-flowing entertainment media, and on the other, we need
to address the fleeting taste of children. Nevertheless, many good works are
going on in the field of Nepali children’s literature. The growing popularity
of literature online, increasing diversity in presentation, publication of
multi-colored titles, and increased care in editing and language clarity are
proofs of this assertion. Sadly however, themes are in jeopardy, and by the
same token, the actual motif of our children’s literature is in jeopardy.
Over the years, certain
facts have changed though. Books have become available to children not only in
cities, but also in places remotely and secluded. We cannot overlook the role
of Room to Read, an international organization, in popularizing children’s
literature in Nepal. It dispatches books from village to village. It has also
been gradually setting a standard for writing, layout and publishing books for
children. We must also acknowledge the contribution of Read Nepal in the
formative days.
Passing through several
turns, children’s literature stands at a challenging moment, as far as writing
is concerned. If in yester years, fifteen to twenty books came annually, we
have more than 185 books coming out into the market these days. Nepali
children’s literature is its rich glory, numerically. What we need now is a
literature that lends intellectual input in accordance with the changing times,
embellished with the feeling of mutual dignity and brotherhood. In other words, we need to revisit our
themes.
Much of the writing these
days is measured against minor indicative of profit and loss, which is fatal
for the entire field. We need, in fact, to be moving in the direction of
producing a responsible citizen through literature. A good literature today can
only ensure the evolution of a good citizen tomorrow. Therefore writing for
children is a serious issue. Like a mother putting all her efforts to prepare a
healthy gruel for her baby, a writer should put special efforts to enrich his
writing with values. If your involvement is just out of a sense of hobby, you
are doing injustice upon children, and also upon the nation. You must be aware
of this.
A child is today’s ray of
hope. He is also a forerunner. Therefore the reading materials we produce for
him need to be seriously scrutinized, because it mentality that defines a man.
Literature must inspire one’s mentality in the positive direction.
When we talk about
writing for children, we also undertake the subjects of their behavior making,
sociability, and linguistic capacity building. A good literature contributes to
the making of an amiable and responsible individual. It also enriches his
linguistic capacities. An ill-formed literature not only destroys a reader’s
language acquisition, but also harms his moral and ethical aspects. This makes
children’s literature a very, very serious affair.
In fact, what is written
for children should be directly influenced by their age group and family
backgrounds. Consideration of age helps one to decide color graphics, selection
of words, and reading material as such. This is crucial, because childhood is a
fast changing time, and children keep shifting their interest with every single
addition in their age. A writer should be fully knowledgeable about a child’s
interest, psychology, and linguistic level. What is so dismally lacking in our
children’s literature so far is the fact that writers seldom consider the
question of age, and the different tastes and qualities children develop with
age.
Before we end a short
commentary on the situation of children’s literature these days! These days, at
least twenty books get published every month, making it around two hundred
annually. But the writers seem dazed when it comes to the principles of
writing. They cannot tell for sure which age group they are targeting at. If a
book’s exposition fits with one age group, climax with another, and the end
with yet another, it is considered ill-made. Therefore, before starting, a
writer must consider the readers’ age.
It is advisable that
before writing, a writer decides among three age groups, and stick to one, of
his pick: birth to 5, 6 to 9, and 10 to 13. I consider is good for our context.
A plan with this decidability might be tested with other criteria I have
delineated above. But, the best is, observe the activities of the children of
that age that conforms to your target; talk with them, and find time to play
with them. This will help you develop a great piece of writing that will not
only entertain and instruct a child but also archive the shifting paradigm of
the world in relation with the young minds of the juvenile children. Writers in
the coming decade must write children’s mind; enough has come about the
writers’ mind in the name of writing children’s literature. Best wishes!
(Ghimire is an acclaimed writer and trainer of
children’s literature)
(Translated and edited by Mahesh Paudyal)
No comments:
Post a Comment