Primroses versus spruces: Cultural differences between flora depicted in British and Polish children's books

Ethnobotany Research and Applications

Volume 7, 2009, Pages 115-122

Open Access

Łuczaj, Ł. 

 

Department of Humanities, International Institute of Education through Art, Academy of Humanities and Economics in Łódź, ul. Rewolucji 1905 r. nr 64, 90-222 Łódź, Poland 

View references (27)

Abstract

Plant illustrations encountered by children during their education directly result from the actual native culture and flora and simultaneously shape children's perception of vegetation. Children's book illustrations were compared in Great Britain, a country with a long tradition of realism in visual arts, and Poland (89 books were studied in each country). It was found that British children's books contained more species of plants and less species of fungi, but the differences were not significant. The proportion of native woodland species is the same for both countries, but Polish illustrations show less woodland flowers and more trees. British illustrations contain proportionally more purple and yellow flowers. Polish illustrations do not reflect the potential natural vegetation (deciduous forests) but rather reflect species typical for disturbed sites and boreal elements of the flora, which are dominant in the countries east of Poland. This can be explained by population movements which took place after 1945.

Indexed keywords

Species Index: Fungi; Picea; Primula

ISSN: 15473465Source Type: Journal Original language: English

Document Type: Article

References (27)

View in search results format

• Page
 
• • Export |
  • Print |
  • E-mail |
  • Create bibliography

• 
  1

  Atran, S., Medin, D., Ross, N.

  Evolution and devolution of knowledge: A tale of two biologies
  (2004) Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 10 (2), pp. 395-420. Cited 51 times.
  doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9655.2004.00195.x
  

  • View at Publisher
• 
  2

  Bebbington, A.

  The ability of A-level students to name plants
  (2005) Journal of Biological Education, 39 (2), pp. 63-67. Cited 44 times.
  

  • View at Publisher
• 
  3

  Berlin, B.
  (1992) Ethnobiological Classification: Principles of Categorisation of Plants and Animals in Traditional Societies. Cited 494 times.
  Princeton University Press, Princeton
  

  •  
• 
  4

  Blunt, W.
  (1967) The Art of Botanical Illustration. Cited 68 times.
  Collins, London
  

  •  
• 
  5

  Des Cars, L.
  (2000) The Pre-Raphaelites: Romance and Realism. Cited 3 times.
  Harry N. Abrams, New York
  

  •  
• 
  6

  Brett, M.
  (1982) Good Night Time Tales
  The Medici Society, London
  

  •  
• 
  7

  Brett, M.
  (1962) Flip Flop's Secret
  The Medici Society, London
  

  •  
• 
  8

  Blyton, E.
  (1979) Enid Blyton's Treasury of Verse
  Purnell Books, Maidenhead, Berkshire
  

  •  
• 
  9

  Cooper, C.L.

  Botanical knowledge of a group of South Carolina elementary school students
  (2008) Ethnobotany Research and Applications, 6, pp. 121-127. Cited 12 times.
  http://128.171.206.29/ojs/index.php/era/article/view/166/145
  

  • View at Publisher
• 
  10

  Duncan, A.
  (1994) Art Nouveau. Cited 7 times.
  Thames and Hudson, New York
  

  •  
• 
  11

  Ferraro, G.
  (2004) Cultural Anthropology: An Applied Perspective. Cited 17 times.
  Fifth Edition. Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, Belmont, California
  

  •  
• 
  12

  Holden, E.B.
  (1977) The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady. Cited 5 times.
  Michael Joseph Ltd. London
  

  •  
• 
  13

  Kellert, S.R.
  Experiencing nature: Affective, cognitive and evaluative development in children
  (2002) Children and Nature: Psychological, Sociocultural and Evolutionary Investigations, pp. 117-151. Cited 137 times.
  Edited by P.H. Kahn & S.R. Kellert. MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts
  

  •  
• 
  14

  Kownacka, M.
  (1975) Razem ze słonkiem, 1-6.
  Młodzieżowa Agencja Wydawnicza, Warszawa.
  

  •  
• 
  15

  Łuczaj, Ł.

  Archival data on wild food plants used in Poland in 1948
  (2008) Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, 4, art. no. 4. Cited 50 times.
  doi: 10.1186/1746-4269-4-4
  

  • View at Publisher
• 
  16

  Mancoff, D.N.
  (2003) Flora Symbolica: Flowers in Pre-Raphaelite Art. Cited 2 times.
  Preste, Munich
  

  •  
• 
  17

  Marczyk, M.
  (2003) Grzyby W Kulturze Ludowej Polski. Cited 3 times.
  Atla 2, Wrocław
  

  •  
• 
  18

  Mirek, Z., Piȩknoś-Mirkowa, H., Zaja̧c, A., Zaja̧c, M.
  Krytyczna lista roślin kwiatowych i paprotników polski
  (2002) Flowering Plants and Pteridophytes of Poland. A Checklist
  Editors of, Instytut Botaniki Polskiej Akademii Nauk, Kraków
  

  •  
• 
  19

  Scisłowski, W.
  (1986) Wesołe Grzybobranie
  KAW, Rzeszów
  

  •  
• 
  20

  Scisłowski, W.
  (1987) Zielone Igraszki: Fraszki Dla Dzieci O Tematyce Przyrodniczej
  Glob, Szczecin
  

  •  
• 
  21

  Stace, C.

  New flora of the British Isles
  (1991) New flora of the British Isles, p. 1226. Cited 1446 times.
  ISBN: 0521427932
  
• 
  22

  Szafer, W.
  (1966) The Vegetation of Poland. Cited 14 times.
  Editor of, Pergamon, Oxford
  

  •  
• 
  23

  Szafer, W., Szaferowa, J.
  (1958) Kwiaty w Naturze I Sztuce
  PWN, Warszawa
  

  •  
• 
  24

  Tutin, T.G., Heywood, V.H., Burges, D.M., Moore, D.H., Valentine, S.M., Walters, S.M., Webb, D.A.
  (1964) Flora Europaea, 1-5. Cited 2584 times.
  The University Press, Cambridge
  

  •  
• 
  25

  Wilson, E.O.
  (1984) Biophilia. Cited 860 times.
  Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts
  

  •  
• 
  26

  Wolff, P., Medin, D.L., Pankratz, C.

  Evolution and devolution of folkbiological knowledge
  (1999) Cognition, 73 (2), pp. 177-204. Cited 41 times.
  doi: 10.1016/S0010-0277(99)00051-7
  

  • View at Publisher
• 
  27

  Zbijewska, K.
  (1986) Krakowskim Szlakiem Stanisława Wyspiańskiego
  Wydawnictwo PTTK "Kraj", Warszawa - Kraków
  

  •  

  Łuczaj, Ł.; Department of Humanities, International Institute of Education through Art, Academy of Humanities and Economics in Łódź, ul. Rewolucji 1905 r. nr 64, 90-222 Łódź, Poland; email:lukasz.luczaj@interia.pl
© Copyright 2010 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.