I have recently submitted, in co-authorship with Dr. Elizabeth Cardoso, lecturer at the Catholic University of São Paulo, the article Digital literature in and out of school: The mediation of the literary experience in childhood. The article is to appear at the journal Revista Leitura: teoria e prática [Reading: Theory and Practice], in the special edition on “Digital children’s literature: Between reading practices and digital narratives.” This edition is edited by Dr. Ilsa do Carmo Vieira Goulart, from the Federal University of Lavras. I am looking forward to the reviewers comments.
ABSTRACT: The article discusses how the features of digital children’s literature require new strategies of literary mediation that shift the focus from the mediator to the literary work and the aesthetic experience. To do so, the importance, limits, and challenges of mediating children’s literature at home and school, with particular attention to digital literature, are considered. It starts with a revision of the concept of digital children’s literature. Next, the relationships between mediator and child reader are discussed, emphasizing the importance of the reader’s body and the materiality of the literary experience, and how these are transformed in digital reading. The analysis aims at reflecting on the mediation of digital literature beyond pedagogy, that is, focused on the achievement of literary enjoyment. Finally, the literary app Spot is examined, focusing on mediation strategies that support the work’s aesthetic potential.
Keywords: mediation; literary apps; children’s literature; reading for pleasure; Spot
