CHILDHOOD AND SOCIO-PSYCHOLOGICAL PROBLEMS OF THE ADULT WORLD IN THE STORY «GYURO» BY ANNA-KATRINA WESTLEY

The article examines the story of the Norwegian writer Anna-Katrina Vestly «Guro» in the extensive context of children’s literature of Scandinavian countries. The research provides a deep insight into a range of social and psychological issues (gender inequality, unemployment, alienation, loneliness, experiencing the death of parents, old age problems). At the same time, the principal focus is on the fundamental philosophical issues of children’s lifestyle and attitudes to the world, as well as tragic events accompanying growing up, boundaries between life and death, true humanism, time and memory. The article emphasizes pedagogical problems such as growing up, upbringing, family and family values, respecting child’s personality. It is shown that the story «Guro» was written in the best traditions of educational literature and humanistic pedagogy based on love. Children’s status in the society and their rights are fundamentally important for Vestly. These issues got internationally acclaimed in the 20th century and are still discussed in the modern world. This research describes distinctive features of children’s literature and shows how different it is from the literature for adults. The authors come to the conclusion that the Scandinavian children’s literature has preserved its special attributes throughout its history which lie in it appealing both to children and adults. Children’s literature is still advancing in the same direction today. Scandinavian children’s literature is aimed for joint creative family reading, its purpose is to affirm and preserve traditional family values.