The Book as an Agent of Socialization

Abstract

This article tackles and analyses the role of book as socialization agent, or, precisely, as a socialization textual agent. The study thus focuses on young readers and children – from the very first reading experiences to 14 years – and on the educational functions that books and literature can have for them.  Over the years, socio-cultural research has studied the book as a social product (sociology of literature), a package of signifiers (semiotics), and a good from cultural industry and market (cultural studies): the present study recalls fundamental conclusions of decades of research about the book and literature, so as to retrace adequate criteria for an original classification and theory of 0-14 literary genres, specifically meant to highlight the educational, socializing roles of each one.