Instructing Adults, Attracting Children: Toy Displays in Republican China
From the early twentieth century, a discourse developed in China whereby children were assets for national rejuvenation, and toys were crucial to shaping them. The relevance of childhood and toys was however also deployed to tutor adults: the present article uses toy displays as an entry point to an...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | fra |
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Association Française de Recherche sur les Livres et les Objets Culturels de l’Enfance (AFRELOCE)
2021-03-01
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| Series: | Strenae |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/strenae/6309 |
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| _version_ | 1846131113997631488 |
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| author | Valentina Boretti |
| author_facet | Valentina Boretti |
| author_sort | Valentina Boretti |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | From the early twentieth century, a discourse developed in China whereby children were assets for national rejuvenation, and toys were crucial to shaping them. The relevance of childhood and toys was however also deployed to tutor adults: the present article uses toy displays as an entry point to analyse this question. Discussing exhibitions staged by educational and governmental agencies in the 1920s and 1930s, it examines efforts to shift the perception of playthings from gadgets to essential formative tools that could not be manufactured, acquired or used casually. Not only were exhibitions a way to disseminate the discourse of toys as symbols and agents of improvement, but also they served to teach expert-defined competence to adults, most notably producers and parents. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-ffcc7a7c31d64c0d888ef146e298bb00 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2109-9081 |
| language | fra |
| publishDate | 2021-03-01 |
| publisher | Association Française de Recherche sur les Livres et les Objets Culturels de l’Enfance (AFRELOCE) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Strenae |
| spelling | doaj-art-ffcc7a7c31d64c0d888ef146e298bb002024-12-09T15:53:43ZfraAssociation Française de Recherche sur les Livres et les Objets Culturels de l’Enfance (AFRELOCE)Strenae2109-90812021-03-011710.4000/strenae.6309Instructing Adults, Attracting Children: Toy Displays in Republican ChinaValentina BorettiFrom the early twentieth century, a discourse developed in China whereby children were assets for national rejuvenation, and toys were crucial to shaping them. The relevance of childhood and toys was however also deployed to tutor adults: the present article uses toy displays as an entry point to analyse this question. Discussing exhibitions staged by educational and governmental agencies in the 1920s and 1930s, it examines efforts to shift the perception of playthings from gadgets to essential formative tools that could not be manufactured, acquired or used casually. Not only were exhibitions a way to disseminate the discourse of toys as symbols and agents of improvement, but also they served to teach expert-defined competence to adults, most notably producers and parents.https://journals.openedition.org/strenae/6309educationmaterial cultureinterwar periodconsumptiontoytoy history |
| spellingShingle | Valentina Boretti Instructing Adults, Attracting Children: Toy Displays in Republican China Strenae education material culture interwar period consumption toy toy history |
| title | Instructing Adults, Attracting Children: Toy Displays in Republican China |
| title_full | Instructing Adults, Attracting Children: Toy Displays in Republican China |
| title_fullStr | Instructing Adults, Attracting Children: Toy Displays in Republican China |
| title_full_unstemmed | Instructing Adults, Attracting Children: Toy Displays in Republican China |
| title_short | Instructing Adults, Attracting Children: Toy Displays in Republican China |
| title_sort | instructing adults attracting children toy displays in republican china |
| topic | education material culture interwar period consumption toy toy history |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/strenae/6309 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT valentinaboretti instructingadultsattractingchildrentoydisplaysinrepublicanchina |