Storytellers of Children’s Literature and their Ideological Construction of the Audience

Abstract

This paper examines the beliefs and informal theories about their audiences held by a group of twelve Spanish storytellers who perform for children. The interviews were collected as part of a larger study focusing on children’s literature and socialization in urban informal learning contexts. Four aspects or dimensions of storytellers’ ideologies are examined: the role of age as a structuring dimension, the role of children’s upbringing and background in their construction as audiences, their definition of an ideal storytelling context, and the role of audience participation. The study focuses specifically on the effect that contact with the formal educational system can have on the formation of storytellers’ beliefs and finds an especially visible relationship in the first and second dimensions.

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