A Short History of the IRSCL
On
this page:
Origins | Aims | Events and Membership
| Past Congresses | Presidents
The foundations of the IRSCL were laid at the Frankfurt Colloquium of 1969 which was organized by members of the Institut für Jugendbuchforschung of the Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany. There it was proposed that an international organization should be established to support and promote research in the field of children's literature. Colloquium participants from five countries elected an organizational committee and a year later, on 30 May 1970, the IRSCL was founded by seven specialists from Austria (Richard Bamberger), Czechoslovakia (Frantisek Holesovsky), the Federal Republic of Germany (Peter Aley, Klaus Doderer, Helmut Mueller), Spain (Carmen Bravo-Villasante) and Switzerland (Franz Caspar). By-laws were approved and Klaus Doderer was elected first IRSCL president.
The first symposium of the Society was held in Frankfurt in October 1971. By then fifty scholars from eighteen countries were members of the IRSCL.
- To promote academic research and scholarship into children's and youth literature, reading and related fields.
- To facilitate co-operation between researchers in different countries and in different branches of learning.
- To enable researchers in different countries to exchange information, share discussion of professional and theoretical issues, and initiate and co-ordinate research.
Every two years the IRSCL organizes a congress at which scholars from all over the world have the opportunity to meet each other, to exchange ideas and to initiate collaborations. Each congress has a theme relevant to current research in the field of children's literature studies. Congresses also provide formal and informal opportunities for shaping the direction of the subject and influencing academic policy. Papers are read in English, and sometimes also in the language of the host country. Members receive a reduction of US $ 60 on congress fees.
The 18th congress will take place in Kyoto, Japan, 25-29 August 2007.
On the website we publish a newsletter with information about the society and its members, their publications and current research. Members who don't have access to the internet, and institutional members receive a hard copy twice a year.
Every two years members receive a membership directory, a global 'Who is who?' of children's literature research.
The annual memberships fees are:
- US $35 for individual members;
- US $17.50 for those who have retired from employment or are fulltime research students;
- US $70 for affiliated members and institutional members.
For more information please contact the Treasurer / Membership Secretary:
Mavis Reimer
Department of English
University of Winnipeg
515 Portage Ave.
Winnipeg, Manitoba R3B 2E9
Canada
Tel.: +1 204 786 9185 [work]; +1 204 475 5655 [home]
Fax: +1 204 774 4134
Email: m.reimer@uwinnipeg.ca
Past
Congresses
1971 Frankfurt, Germany - Children's Literature
as a Subject of Research
1974 Boldern, Switzerland - Study of Reading
Habits and Research on Sex Role Stereotyping in Literature for Children and Young
People
1976 Södertälje, Sweden - Problems of Translation in
the Field of Literature for Children and Young People
1978 Exeter, Great
Britain - Responses to Children's Literature: Children's Responses to Text and
Illustrations
1981 Moscow, USSR - International Dissemination of Children`s
Literature Research; Trends in Teaching of Children's Literature, Status of Research
in Specific Countries
1983 Bordeaux, France - Portrayal of the Child
in Children's Literature
1985 University of Quebec, Montreal - Literary
Aspects of Fantasy and Fantastic Literature for Children and Young People
1987
Cologne, Germany - Books for children, Books for adults; The Relationship between
them
1989 Salamanca, Spain - The History of Children's Literature
1991
Paris, France - The Applications of Contemporary Literary and Cultural Theory
to Children's Literature
1993 Geelong, Australia - Crossing the boundaries:
Multiculturalism in Children's Literature
1995 Stockholm, Sweden - Reflections
of Change: the last 50 Years in Children's Literature
1997 York, England
- The Presence of the Past in Children's Literature
1999 Calgary, Canada
- Children's Literature and the fin de siècle
(Joint meeting with the
Children's Literature Association)
2001 Klein Kariba, South Africa -
Change and Renewal in Children's Literature
2003 Kristiansand, Norway
- Telling a World, Shaping a World
2005 Dublin, Ireland – Expectations and Experiences: Children, Childhood and Children's Literature
Presidents
1970-1974
Klaus Doderer
1974-1978 Göte Klingberg
1978-1981 James Fraser
1981-1985
Denise Escarpit
1985-1989 Anne MacLeod
1989-1993 Rhonda Bunbury
1993-1997
Maria Nikolajeva
1997-1999 John Stephens
1999-2003 Sandra Beckett
2003-
Kimberley Reynolds
Honorary
Fellows
2001 - Klaus Doderer
2003 - Göte Klingberg
2005 – Jean Perrot