In my speech on “Children’s Literature and Visual Culture in the Digital Age”, I will try to show the characteristics of children’s literature in this age marked by the fast development of digital technology which has greatly changed the way the stories for children is written and presented and the reading habit of people, children in particular. By comparing the traditional books in print form and e-books and digital book apps, I intend to argue that the use of the iPhones, laptops, and iPads with cameras, microphones and other capacities has added new dimensions to the reading experience and made the reading process more enjoyable, interactive and personalized for children. Access to the book apps also enables the children to infuse animated pictures on to the original stories in printed form, creating a vivid visual world with three-dimensional images on the screen. To support my argument, I will give some examples I have found from the stories for children in China and demonstrate the digital transformation made to them.

 

Professor Jian Sun is the Vice Chair of the Academic Committee in the College of Foreign Languages and Literature of Fudan University. He is also the director of the Nordic Literature Research Institute at Fudan. His recent book publications include Hans Christian Andersen in China (Southern Denmark University Press 2014), Folk Tradition in Modern Society (Fudan University Press 2013), Ibsen across Cultures (Fudan University Press 2012), and Readings in English Literature (Chinese Edition) (Fudan University Press (2008). He is currently a member of the International Ibsen Committee, University of Oslo.