CHILDREN'S LITERATURE IN MALAY : AN INQUIRY INTO AND AN ANALYSIS OF ITS DEVELOPMENT AND FUNCTIONS AS A STIMULUS TOWARDS ACHIEVEMENT

Abstract

Children's literature has important educational and entertainment values. This study attempts to find out the development of children's literature in Malay and the role it can play in the Malay community. This study is divided into two parts. Part I surveys the position and the development of that literature. In Part ll selected literary works which focus on the theme of achievement and exemplify their authors' concepts of hero are analysed, to ascertain how far that literature has succeeded as a stimulus towards achievement - a problem faced by the relatively backward Malays, particularly in the economic field. This study deals only with children's literature books in all genres published in Malaysia and Singapore until 1982. The books are classified according to genre and the total in each category ascertained to determine the trend in development. Tl1is study finds children's literature in Malay developed rather late and slowly. Although the last years have witnessed a phenomenal increase in writing for children due to external factors, the development has been more quantitative than qualitative in nature. This study also finds that the literature has not been able to act as a stimulus towards achievement and high standard of excellence. This is because most writers do not appear to be aware of the role children's literature can play in arousing the need for achievement or the impact of their writings on the mental and personality development of young readers.