Slovak Children’s Book Illustrations in the Context of Socio-Political Changes (1932–1971): The Case of the Book Čenkovej deti [Čenková’s Children] by Fraňo Kráľ

Jana Migašová

Pages	48–58
DOI	10.37520/amnpsc.2023.0024
Keywords	Slovak visual culture – children’s book illustration – compulsory reading – Modernism – socialist realism – Josef Rybák – Štefan Cpin
Type of Article	Peer-reviewed
Citation	MIGAŠOVÁ, Jana. Slovak Children’s Book Illustrations in the Context of Socio-Political Changes (1932–1971): The Case of the Book Čenkovej deti [Čenková’s Children] by Fraňo Kráľ. Acta Musei Nationalis Pragae – Historia litterarum. Prague: National Museum, 2023, 68(3-4), 48–58. DOI: https://doi.org/10.37520/amnpsc.2023.0024. ISSN 2570-6861 (Print), 2570-687X (Online). Also available from: https://www.nm.cz/en/periodicals/acta-musei-nationalis-pragae-historia-litterarum/68-3-4/slovak-childrens-book-illustrations-in-the-context-of-socio-political-changes-19321971-the-case-of-the-book-cenkovej-deti-cenkovas-children-by-frano-kral

Acta Musei Nationalis Pragae – Historia litterarum | 2023/68/3-4

The subject of the paper is the changing visual language of the illustrations in Čenkovej deti [Čenková’s Children] by Fraňo Kráľ (1932). After 1948, the book was transformed into a paradigmatic story reflecting social injustice and became compulsory reading for primary-school children. This necessitated a number of artistic solutions in the form of illustration sets interpreting and canonising the narrative. By means of a comparison of Josef Rybák’s and Štefan Cpin’s illustrative approaches, the study reveals the essential difference in their conveyance of content in two different historical situations.

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