Role patterns - role plays

The essays collected here are the result of many years of engagement with children's literature. Following reflections on the literary impulses in the works of Erich Kästner, the essays focus on contemporary youth literature, primarily examining its seismographic quality in relation to societal transformation processes. The changes in childhood, gender roles, and family dynamics since 1970 are fundamental themes in youth literature; their serious and comedic representations are essential aspects of this volume. At the center is the literary exploration of adolescence, particularly in its reflective function for concepts of personality and cultural norms, for which psychoanalytic interpretative patterns repeatedly offer insights. Special attention is given to the work of Christine Nöstlinger.