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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
Notes
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Adapted by Helen Smith from the original Japanese story by Kenji Miyazawa.
Affiliation Notes
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This work is affiliated with the AustLit subset Asian-Australian Children's Literature and Publishing because it is based on a Japanese story.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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The Picture Book 'Kojuro and the Bears' : A Cross-Cultural Comparison with 'The Bears of Mount Nametoko (Nametoko Yama no Kuma)'
1997
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Papers : Explorations into Children's Literature , April vol. 7 no. 1 1997; (p. 16-30)Kilpatrick explores the notion that 'different cultural and narratological differences can affect the significances arising out of the texts' (16), through an examination of Miyazawa Kenji's Nametoko Yama no Kuma, the Morimoto/Smith adaptation Kojuro and the Bears (Australian CBC Picture Book of the Year 1987), and the unillustrated original narrative. In a cross-cultural comparison, Kilpatrick argues that the westernised adaptations 'signify an unfamiliar message of interaction between nature and life to an audience acculturated by more anthropocentric traditions' (16).
Buddhism is intrinsic to Kenji's narratives and Kilpatrick sees a disparity between the central Buddhist tenet regarding the 'equality and ultimate oneness of all beings and objects in the phenomenal world' and the anthropocentric western perspective that privileges humans over animals and nature, in a hierarchy that is fixed and naturalised (17). The contrast shows how culture and 'discoursal strategies' affect intepretation through methods of representation and how certain significations 'foster and provoke [a] more intense contemplation of life' (25).
However, Kilpatrick highlights how the western adaptations are encoded with a more humanistic, ecological ideology, which, she argues, shows that, fundamentally, 'different notions about death and the cosmos make it difficult to avoid acculturated beliefs' (25).
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[Review] Kojuro and the Bears
1987
single work
review
— Appears in: Magpies : Talking About Books for Children , July vol. 2 no. 3 1987; (p. 25)
— Review of Kojuro and the Bears Helen Smith (translator), 1987 single work picture book -
The Children's Book Council Book of the Year Awards 1987 : The Short Lists
1987
single work
column
— Appears in: Magpies : Talking About Books for Children , May vol. 2 no. 2 1987; (p. 12-13) -
[Review] Kojuro and the Bears
1987
single work
review
— Appears in: Reading Time : The Journal of the Children's Book Council of Australia , vol. 31 no. 3 1987; (p. 39-40)
— Review of Kojuro and the Bears Helen Smith (translator), 1987 single work picture book -
Judges' Report - 1987
1987
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Reading Time : The Journal of the Children's Book Council of Australia , vol. 31 no. 3 1987; (p. 10-16) The report also includes short criticisms of the honour books and shortlisted titles and a general comment on each award category.
-
[Review] Kojuro and the Bears
1987
single work
review
— Appears in: Magpies : Talking About Books for Children , July vol. 2 no. 3 1987; (p. 25)
— Review of Kojuro and the Bears Helen Smith (translator), 1987 single work picture book -
Australian Children's Book Awards : The 1987 shortlist
1987
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , June no. 91 1987; (p. 29-32)
— Review of Riverman 1986 single work novel ; Creatures in the Beard 1986 single work picture book ; Kojuro and the Bears Helen Smith (translator), 1987 single work picture book ; The Wild 1986 single work picture book ; All About Anna and Harriet and Christopher and Me 1986 single work children's fiction ; Melissa's Ghost 1986 single work children's fiction ; Blue Days 1986 single work novel ; Space Demons 1986 single work novel ; Taronga 1986 single work novel ; My Sister Sif 1986 single work novel ; All We Know 1986 single work children's fiction ; Animalia 1986 single work picture book ; Farmer Schulz's Ducks 1986 single work picture book ; Pigs Might Fly 1986 single work children's fiction ; Sister Madge's Book of Nuns 1986 selected work poetry ; Boss of the Pool 1986 single work children's fiction ; Murgatroyd's Garden 1986 single work picture book ; The Nativity 1986 single work picture book -
[Review] Kojuro and the Bears
1987
single work
review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 7 March 1987;
— Review of Kojuro and the Bears Helen Smith (translator), 1987 single work picture book -
'High-Tech Hit Misses Out. Judges Get It Wrong Again, says Katharine England'
1987
single work
review
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 15 August 1987;
— Review of Kojuro and the Bears Helen Smith (translator), 1987 single work picture book -
[Review] Kojuro and the Bears
1987
single work
review
— Appears in: Reading Time : The Journal of the Children's Book Council of Australia , vol. 31 no. 3 1987; (p. 39-40)
— Review of Kojuro and the Bears Helen Smith (translator), 1987 single work picture book -
The Children's Book Council Book of the Year Awards 1987 : The Short Lists
1987
single work
column
— Appears in: Magpies : Talking About Books for Children , May vol. 2 no. 2 1987; (p. 12-13) -
The Picture Book 'Kojuro and the Bears' : A Cross-Cultural Comparison with 'The Bears of Mount Nametoko (Nametoko Yama no Kuma)'
1997
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Papers : Explorations into Children's Literature , April vol. 7 no. 1 1997; (p. 16-30)Kilpatrick explores the notion that 'different cultural and narratological differences can affect the significances arising out of the texts' (16), through an examination of Miyazawa Kenji's Nametoko Yama no Kuma, the Morimoto/Smith adaptation Kojuro and the Bears (Australian CBC Picture Book of the Year 1987), and the unillustrated original narrative. In a cross-cultural comparison, Kilpatrick argues that the westernised adaptations 'signify an unfamiliar message of interaction between nature and life to an audience acculturated by more anthropocentric traditions' (16).
Buddhism is intrinsic to Kenji's narratives and Kilpatrick sees a disparity between the central Buddhist tenet regarding the 'equality and ultimate oneness of all beings and objects in the phenomenal world' and the anthropocentric western perspective that privileges humans over animals and nature, in a hierarchy that is fixed and naturalised (17). The contrast shows how culture and 'discoursal strategies' affect intepretation through methods of representation and how certain significations 'foster and provoke [a] more intense contemplation of life' (25).
However, Kilpatrick highlights how the western adaptations are encoded with a more humanistic, ecological ideology, which, she argues, shows that, fundamentally, 'different notions about death and the cosmos make it difficult to avoid acculturated beliefs' (25).
-
Judges' Report - 1987
1987
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Reading Time : The Journal of the Children's Book Council of Australia , vol. 31 no. 3 1987; (p. 10-16) The report also includes short criticisms of the honour books and shortlisted titles and a general comment on each award category.
Awards
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cJapan,cEast Asia, South and East Asia, Asia,