On the “Romantics for Children” Editions

Abstract

The text is devoted to the critical description and evaluation of editions of works by Romantic writers intended for children. These are prepared ad usum Delphini. The texts are given in a selection suitable for children, rephrased (because they were originally mostly written for adults), prepared from larger works, and given in fragments. They are given new titles or retitled. The editions lack basic editorial information, such as indications of the sources of the fragments included in the anthology. The noble intention of introducing young readers to Romantic poetry is not counterbalanced by the fact that such editions offer a vision of a tame, infantilised, illustrated and finally caricatured Romanticism, inclining the reader to an extra-contextual and extremely simplified interpretation.