From 'chummy innocence' to concerned individuality : a case study in the sociology of literature

In a recent book 'Innocence and Experience' (1981) McVitty has examined the work of eight Australian writers of books for young teenage readers and has posited a major change in the nature of this minor genre during the last quarter-century. In this paper this claim is substantiated, but the nature and causes of the change are seen in a different and more complex way than that suggested by McVitty. This case study of the development of a minor literary genre is then used to make a number of points about the different ways in which literature and society need to be related when considering children's and adult literature.