'How Does It Get into my Imagination?': Elementary school children's intertextual knowledge and gendered storylines

Abstract

This article draws on a case study of children's response to stories and uses post-structuralist theory to examine how the children who participated in the study used their intertextual knowledge to understand and produce disruptive stories. 'Disruptive' refers here to texts that challenge and go beyond conventional and limiting traditional storylines about race, gender and class through presenting unexpected characterisations, plots, outcomes or details-for example, feminist fairy tales, or stories where the protagonists belong to visible minorities. This article looks specifically at stories that disrupt conventional storylines about gender, and explores ways of broadening children's intertextual knowledge and enhancing their ability to read and write critically. Examples from children's writing and conversations are analysed.