Abstract
AN OVERVIEW OF THE INTERNATIONAL HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN AWARD FOR CHILDREN'S LITERATURE
In the research, a qualitative study has been conducted to examine the general characteristics of the Hans Christian Andersen Award and the authors who won the award. The Hans Christian Andersen Award was established in 1956 as a result of their efforts to heal the deep wounds left by WWII. The award's concept is based on highlighting writers and illustrators who try to convey the message that, despite life's flaws, there is always a way to live. As a result of the award, it is hoped that children will be exposed to more qualified, multicultural literature that will give them hope for the future. According to the results of the research, equality was achieved in the distribution of the award-winning authors by gender. In the distribution of the winning authors by country, it was determined that 86% of the award was given to "Western society" countries such as Europe, America, and Australia. It has been observed that the countries considered "Eastern society" are limited to Japan, China, and Israel. Based on this information, in order to increase the power of representation of all societies in accordance with the philosophy of the award, it has been suggested that the committee organizing the award should evaluate the “eastern cultures”, which is the homeland of literature, especially Turkey, more closely. In addition, the works of the award-winning authors translated into Turkish have been determined and various determinations have been made about them in the article.
Keywords
Children's literature, The Hans Christian Andersen Award, international award, world literature, mul