engleski

Childlike language: What it is and how it conquered the world

The term childlike language denotes a type of literary discourse that is used by popular adult authors of children’s fiction as a means of communication and rapport with their young readers (Flegar 2015a). It is marked by various linguistic deviations, the semiotic as defined by Julia Kristeva, as well as its neologistic quality related to Bakhtin's concept of the carnivalesque. The language used by the authors who gladly identify with their readers and engage in experimentation with meaning and form, such as Lewis Carroll, Edward Lear, J. M. Barrie, Dr. Seuss, Maurice Sendak, Roald Dahl, or J. K. Rowling, encompasses the playful and subversive usage of onomatopoeia and sound patterns, puns, riddles, orthographic alterations, portmanteau words, nonsense, hyperbole, and neologisms. By way of cross-media synergy, as well as inter- and hypertextuality of literary texts, the usage of childlike language extends beyond the pages of a book and has a profound effect on cultural trends. Disseminated by way of electronic media and visible particularly in the vernacular of advertising, childlike language reinforces the sacralisation of childhood (Zelizer 1985) and the concept of kidulthood which emerged in the first decade of 21st century (BBC 2010). Research shows that as the attitude towards children’s culture and its products dramatically changed over the past two centuries, so has the process of growing up. The increasing value of and interest in children’s products caused by their distinct characteristics points to the globalised juvenilisation of culture. This research will focus on three distinct examples of childlike language: the work and legacy of Walt Disney, the iconic opus of Dr. Seuss, as well as the phenomenon of the Harry Potter web created by J. K. Rowling, in order to demonstrate the power and appeal of the childlike expression in today’s society.

childlike language, semiotic theory, carnivalesque concept, intertextuality, hypertextuality, cross-media synergy, fairy-tale web

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