Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1 Allameh Tabatabaei PhD student
2 Professor of Allameh University
3 Assistant Professor, Shahid Beheshti University
Abstract
Abstract
This study examines the pivotal role of imagination in children's literature through an interdisciplinary lens. Building on the insights of sociologists and critical theorists, childhood is understood not as a fixed biological stage but as a socio-cultural construct shaped by diverse ideologies and historical contexts. Accordingly, the concept of childhood varies across societies and temporal frameworks. Children’s literature emerges as an inherently interdisciplinary field, drawing upon psychology, philosophy, linguistics, and educational theory to inform both its content and pedagogical function. Among its core aesthetic and cognitive elements, imagination occupies a central position in children's literary texts. It operates as a dynamic interface between the sensible and the intelligible realms—facilitating the child’s engagement with abstract concepts through concrete, narrative experiences. In philosophical, mystical, and psychological traditions, imagination is conceptualized as a liminal faculty that mediates between material reality and the metaphysical or symbolic order, with creativity and mental representation at its core. Within the domain of children’s literature, imagination serves not merely as a literary device but as a cognitive and emotional catalyst: fostering linguistic development, stimulating creative capacities, and offering symbolic strategies for processing fear, desire, and internal conflict. This article argues that the notion of imagination, as theorized in philosophical, mystical, and psychological discourses, bears significant parallels to the imaginative structures found in childhood. As such, imagination constitutes a potent interdisciplinary bridge—capable of enriching the theoretical foundations of children’s literature while deepening our understanding of the developmental and affective dimensions of childhood.
Keywords: children’s literature, imagination, psychology, mysticism, philosophy, interdisciplinary studies.
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