Centre for Research in Children’s Literature and Culture (CRCLC)
The Centre was established on 5 June 2018 at the Faculty of Teacher Education, University of Zagreb, accepting the proposal of the BIBRICH UIP-2014-09-9823 project research team.
Principles and points of departure
The activities of CRCLC proceed in part from the research activities of the project Building Intercultural Bridges Through Children’s Literature Translations: Texts, Contexts and Strategies (BIBRICH), funded by the Croatian Science Foundation and conducted at the Faculty of Teacher Education, University of Zagreb, from September 2015 to August 2018. During the project, an interdisciplinary research field was established in Croatia, and an initial research group was formed.
The activities are based on the programme of the Centre, summarised below.
CRCLC plans to collaborate with other centres and departments of the Faculty of Teacher Education, with other members of the University of Zagreb and other universities, and with different individuals and institutions in Croatia and abroad with similar and related research interests.
The programme of activities of CRCLC
The activities of the Centre include research, dissemination of research results, academic collaboration with different partners, providing adequate conditions for research, supporting young researchers, etc.
Research activities
Research activities include planning, preparing, and performing research projects and individual research tasks, and publishing the findings.
Research activities are founded on the principles of the interdisciplinary approach. The activities draw on disciplines and theories such as comparative literature, cultural and literary history research, translation studies, theory of the narrative, imagology, and other disciplines. The purpose is to widen theoretical and historical aspects of research and develop a research methodology suited to the field of children’s literature and culture.
The areas of research include Croatian children’s literature, international and comparative children’s literature, related literary systems and other kinds of artistic and (inter)medial means of expression aimed at children and young people. Special emphasis is placed on wider literary-historical, cultural, political and social contexts, as well as on literary and cultural contacts, phenomena and trends, including intercultural transfer, adaptations and literary translations.
CRCLC also provides its members with help in project applications for various sources of funding and supports them in accomplishing the project tasks.
In particular, CRCL plans, prepares, and performs research projects in its area of expertise.
Dissemination activities
CRCLC maintains information exchange among researchers in Croatia and at the international level. In particular, CRCLC:
- organises domestic and international scholarly conferences, seminars, colloquiums, round tables and other kinds of meetings
- participates in research conferences in Croatia and abroad
- engages in publishing, including scholarly publications as well as reprints and annotated publications of Croatian children’s literature.
Collaboration, mobility and exchange
CRCLC:
- initiates, plans, organises and conducts international collaboration and exchange, either individually or through available mobility programmes
- establishes and maintains collaboration with similar institutions in Croatia and abroad, as well as with researchers of children’s literature and culture and related areas.
Assuring appropriate conditions for research
CRCLC:
- maintains and extends the bibliography of Croatian children’s literature and translations of children’s literature from and into Croatian, including literature for adolescents, young adults, and related literary systems. It also maintains the bibliography of secondary sources
- collects and maintains the collection of editions of children’s literature of previous periods, including rare books and picturebooks
- collects data on other aspects of children’s culture, including games and play, free time, education, media, etc
- maintains collaboration with various institutions in the same or similar areas of interest.
Supporting young researchers
CRCL supports young researchers and students through supervision and advice, organising workshops for professional and academic development, mentoring MA and PhD theses, organising summer schools and other courses for doctoral and postdoctoral development, etc.
