Self-identity, an essential and inescapable theme in children’s development, is frequently explored in original picture books. Although children’s “self-identity” is centered on the “self,” its construction, from a practical perspective, is not achieved by the self alone. This study, founded on a selective collation and curation of contemporary original Chinese picture books for children, identifies a number of influential works that engage the theme of “self-identity”. It aims to elucidate the real-world orientation of the “self-identity” question as manifested within China’s corpus of original picture books, and to examine the mechanisms by which the proposition of “self-identity” is enacted. By classifying these works, three distinct thematic propositions are distilled: the individual (self-) construction of self-identity, the social construction of self-identity, and the other-mediated construction of self-identity. Through close textual reading and comparative analysis, this paper demonstrates that whether arising from spontaneous personal reflection and the individual’s project of self-construction, from a sense of personal identification catalyzed by social recognition, or from self-identity elicited under the guidance of “others,” the series of picture books grouped under the rubric of “self-identity” uniformly seek to prompt young readers to contemplate the fundamental questions “Who am I?”, “Who do I aspire to become?”, and “By what means might I realize that aspiration?” These three pathways complement and illuminate one another, providing feasible approaches for children to achieve a coherent sense of self-identity.
| Published in | International Journal of Literature and Arts (Volume 13, Issue 6) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.ijla.20251306.11 |
| Page(s) | 124-129 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Original Picture Books, Self-identity, Child Subjectivity
| [1] | Anthony Giddens. Modernity and Self-Identity, translated by Zhao Xudong et al., Beijing: SDX Joint Publishing Company, 1998. |
| [2] | He Wennan. I Make My Own Decision, illustrated by Wen Dong, Beijing: China Coal Industry Publishing House, 2019. |
| [3] | Yu Guoliang & Xin Ziqiang. Social Development. Beijing: Renmin University of China Press, 2013. |
| [4] | Siyue, I Like Myself, Xiaohongshu Original Picture Book, 2024. |
| [5] | Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Phenomenology of Perception, translated by Jiang Zhihui, Beijing: The Commercial Press, 2001. |
| [6] | Wang Qiuxiang, My Little Sister Is a Tagalong, Nanjing: Nanjing Normal University Press, 2000. |
| [7] | Xiong Bingzhen, Childhood Memories: The History of Chinese Children, Guilin: Guangxi Normal University Press, 2008. |
| [8] | Friedrich Froebel, The Education of Man, translated by Sun Zufu, Beijing: People's Education Press, 1991. |
| [9] | Karl Marx, Selected Works of Marx and Engels (Vol. 1), Beijing: People's Publishing House, 2009. |
| [10] | Sunflower, We Are All the Best, illustrated by Ading, Beijing: Aviation Industry Press, 2018. |
| [11] | Norbert Wiley, The Symbolic Self, translated by Wen Yiming, Chengdu: Sichuan Education Press, 2010. |
| [12] | Fu Zhennan, Penguin Xiao Qi: Facing Ridicule illustrated by Shuchong Culture, Changchun: Northern Women and Children Publishing House, 2017. |
| [13] | Chen Zhiyuan, Guji Guji, Jinan: Tomorrow Publishing House, 2012. |
| [14] | Wu Zhihong, Why the Family Hurts, Beijing: Beijing United Publishing Company, 2014. |
| [15] | Huang Xiaoheng, Two Little Imps Catch an Old Monk, illustrated by Li Zhuoying, Beijing: CITIC Press, 2019. |
| [16] | Chris Shilling, The Body and Social Theory, translated by Li Kang, Beijing: Peking University Press, 2010. |
| [17] | Uncle Xiao Yang, It’s Okay If You Can’t Do It, illustrated by Meng He, Beijing: New World Press, 2020. |
| [18] | Liu Mei, ed., Child Development Psychology, Beijing: Tsinghua University Press, 2010. |
| [19] | Han Meimei, Don’t Mind Being Imperfect, illustrated by Da Deng, Nanjing: Jiangsu Phoenix Literature and Art Publishing House, 2022. |
| [20] | Perry Noddman, Mavis Raymer, The Pleasure of Children’s Literature, translated by Chen Zhongmei, Beijing: Juvenile and Children’s Publishing House, 2008. |
| [21] | He Wennan, I Want to Be Myself, illustrated by Wen Dong, Beijing: China Coal Industry Publishing House, 2018. |
| [22] | Jacques Lacan, Selected Works of Lacan, translated by Chu Xiaochuan, Shanghai: Sanlian Bookstore, 2001. |
| [23] | Xiao Mao, The Frog and the Boy, illustrated by Chen Wei & Huang Xiaomin, Zhengzhou: Haiyan Publishing House, 2011. |
| [24] | Jia Liping, “‘Old Friends by the Seashore’ and the Self-Identity of May Fourth Intellectual Women,” Dongyue Forum, Issue 5,2020. |
| [25] | Tong Qingbing, ed., Modern Psychological Aesthetics, Beijing: China Social Sciences Press, 1993. |
| [26] | Stuart Hall, ed., Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices, translated by Xu Liang & Lu Xinghua, Beijing: The Commercial Press, 2003. |
APA Style
Jin, W. (2025). The Three Constructive Pathways of Children’s Self-Identity in Chinese Original Picture Books. International Journal of Literature and Arts, 13(6), 124-129. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20251306.11
ACS Style
Jin, W. The Three Constructive Pathways of Children’s Self-Identity in Chinese Original Picture Books. Int. J. Lit. Arts 2025, 13(6), 124-129. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20251306.11
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Download@article{10.11648/j.ijla.20251306.11,
author = {Wang Jin},
title = {The Three Constructive Pathways of Children’s Self-Identity in Chinese Original Picture Books
},
journal = {International Journal of Literature and Arts},
volume = {13},
number = {6},
pages = {124-129},
doi = {10.11648/j.ijla.20251306.11},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20251306.11},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijla.20251306.11},
abstract = {Self-identity, an essential and inescapable theme in children’s development, is frequently explored in original picture books. Although children’s “self-identity” is centered on the “self,” its construction, from a practical perspective, is not achieved by the self alone. This study, founded on a selective collation and curation of contemporary original Chinese picture books for children, identifies a number of influential works that engage the theme of “self-identity”. It aims to elucidate the real-world orientation of the “self-identity” question as manifested within China’s corpus of original picture books, and to examine the mechanisms by which the proposition of “self-identity” is enacted. By classifying these works, three distinct thematic propositions are distilled: the individual (self-) construction of self-identity, the social construction of self-identity, and the other-mediated construction of self-identity. Through close textual reading and comparative analysis, this paper demonstrates that whether arising from spontaneous personal reflection and the individual’s project of self-construction, from a sense of personal identification catalyzed by social recognition, or from self-identity elicited under the guidance of “others,” the series of picture books grouped under the rubric of “self-identity” uniformly seek to prompt young readers to contemplate the fundamental questions “Who am I?”, “Who do I aspire to become?”, and “By what means might I realize that aspiration?” These three pathways complement and illuminate one another, providing feasible approaches for children to achieve a coherent sense of self-identity.
},
year = {2025}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - The Three Constructive Pathways of Children’s Self-Identity in Chinese Original Picture Books AU - Wang Jin Y1 - 2025/12/03 PY - 2025 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20251306.11 DO - 10.11648/j.ijla.20251306.11 T2 - International Journal of Literature and Arts JF - International Journal of Literature and Arts JO - International Journal of Literature and Arts SP - 124 EP - 129 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2331-057X UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20251306.11 AB - Self-identity, an essential and inescapable theme in children’s development, is frequently explored in original picture books. Although children’s “self-identity” is centered on the “self,” its construction, from a practical perspective, is not achieved by the self alone. This study, founded on a selective collation and curation of contemporary original Chinese picture books for children, identifies a number of influential works that engage the theme of “self-identity”. It aims to elucidate the real-world orientation of the “self-identity” question as manifested within China’s corpus of original picture books, and to examine the mechanisms by which the proposition of “self-identity” is enacted. By classifying these works, three distinct thematic propositions are distilled: the individual (self-) construction of self-identity, the social construction of self-identity, and the other-mediated construction of self-identity. Through close textual reading and comparative analysis, this paper demonstrates that whether arising from spontaneous personal reflection and the individual’s project of self-construction, from a sense of personal identification catalyzed by social recognition, or from self-identity elicited under the guidance of “others,” the series of picture books grouped under the rubric of “self-identity” uniformly seek to prompt young readers to contemplate the fundamental questions “Who am I?”, “Who do I aspire to become?”, and “By what means might I realize that aspiration?” These three pathways complement and illuminate one another, providing feasible approaches for children to achieve a coherent sense of self-identity. VL - 13 IS - 6 ER -
College of Literature, Qufu Normal University, Qufu, China
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