Mobilisering af barnets potentiale for en bedre fremtid: Opdragelsestænkningen i Torben Gregersens vurderinger af børnebogsmanuskripter i perioden 1942–1954

Abstract

Children's books were one of the scenes where ‘progressive’ professionals - mostly teachers, psychologists and artists - around WWII fought the battle to change society through changed educational thinking. Especially after WWII it was acknowledged that children's books could contribute to the forming and education of the child, mobilising the child's potential to secure the future and promote peace and international understanding. This article examines so far unexamined sources, i.e., 89 assessments of children's book manuscripts from the private archives of Torben Gregersen (1911–1994): a teacher and prominent ‘progressivist’ hired by different publishers in the period 1942–1954. Using a descriptive and sociological approach, the article identifies the educational way of thinking imbedded in these assessments, which predominantly represents elements of developmental psychology, moral development and national culture, and literary and aesthetic-artistic elements to a lesser extent. Thus, the article shows that the emergence of ‘progressive’ elements which in research on children's literature normally are dated to the late 1960s, are not only present in the 1940s and 1950s in the assessments of Torben Gregersen; they are present with noteworthy nuance.