„Well, Gyurica, do you still want freedom?” – Functions of the Children’s Column in the Pesti Napló

Abstract

The history of Hungarian printed mass media started with the first issues of Pesti Napló in 1850, but the media sector offering children’s literature evolved only at the turn of the century. It was also Pesti Napló in which children’s columns appeared first so it was outrunning its rivals in this respect, too. This pioneering role is edifying not only because of the contents of these sections but because it also helps us to identify the status of children and the functions of children’s literature in the early 1900’s. At the turn of the century children got into the attention and interest of mass media as target groups. There existed earlier a few newspapers for children but their quality and quantity was poor compared to the children’s column of Pesti Napló. With some exceptions, they were short-lived, their public small, in a word, they never made it to the centre of the dynamically developing media world. The outset of the children’s section in the Pesti Napló was a milestone in the advancement of children’s social situation; besides its effects on Hungarian children’s literature it also changed public opinion and general expectations about children. The editors of the newspaper created a brand new communication channel in the new column for those who hadn’t been addressed by the mass media before. I chose the function-based analysis – recommended by Zoltán Hermann – for those 939 articles which appeared in the Pesti Napló between 1893 and 1910. Analysing the role and function of the contemporary children’s literature we can create an overall picture about the public approach to children’s literature and about the characteristics already separating literature for children and literature for grownups from each other.