Chapter 37 Classical Monsters in Children’s and Young Adult Literature

Abstract

This chapter offers a succinct survey of the reception of classical monsters in children’s and young adult literature with the aim of indicating the main ways in which this kind of content is adapted to the needs of the young public. The focus is on presenting the monsters’ reception as a key for understanding the transformations underway in societal sensitivity, as well as one for enabling intergenerational communication and fostering psychological and intellectual maturation in the transition from childhood to adulthood. The basic theoretical remarks are exemplified by a choice of case studies along with an outline of the major methodological challenges intrinsic to research into this aspect of the reception of classical antiquity.