author: Mariіa Luhova
Abstract.
Relevance of the research. Childhood, as a philosophical and cultural phenomenon, represents one of the least explored yet profoundly important areas of the humanities. Especially in times of sociocultural transformation and global crises, there is an increasing need to understand not only the child as an object of socialization but also childhood as an autonomous mode of existence — a distinctive alternative to the adult worldview. In literary art, this contrast between the child’s and adult’s way of being acquires deep philosophical dimensions, allowing for a reconstruction of the original meanings of human experience.
Problem statement. Despite the abundance of pedagogical and psychological studies, the philosophical potential of the image of the child often remains overlooked. In the space of literature, however, childhood emerges as an independent world — emotional, sensory, free, and at the same time profoundly existential. In contrast to adulthood, which relies on rationality and functionality, childhood in literature reveals an intuitive wholeness and philosophical depth that requires no logical justification. This opens the path for philosophical reflection on the extent to which the child’s experience may serve as a bearer of truths lost to adulthood.
Analysis of recent research and publications. The study of the child in the context of fiction has particularly interested I. Kushnir, V. Korkh, A. Kovalchuk, O. Hnizdilova, T. Mykhailchuk, among others.
Research task. The aim of this article is to uncover the philosophical meaning of the interaction and opposition between childhood and adulthood within the artistic space of literature.
Main material presentation. The article explores how the works of authors such as J. M. Barrie, O. Vyshnia, J. Greenwood, Ye. Hutsalo, R. Dahl, S. Jamison, M. Ende, M. Kotsiubynsky, S. Coolidge, A. Lindgren, P. Myrnyi, I. Nechui-Levytskyi, E. Porter, A. de Saint-Exupéry, M. Stelmakh, M. Twain, T. Shevchenko, and A. Milne portray childhood as an ontological wholeness and a philosophical category. Special attention is paid to the phenomena of sincerity, truthfulness, and intuitive understanding of the world, which are characteristic of children. The article analyzes how literary child characters experience existential issues — death, loneliness, loss — and how these experiences shape a unique value system. Unlike the adult, who tends toward functional thinking and social roles, the child emerges as a bearer of radical openness and authentic perception. In literary texts, this is manifested through everyday situations — games, walks, interactions with adults, and observations of nature — which hold ontological depth for the child but appear routine to the adult.
Conclusions. Childhood in literary texts represents a way of being in the world that challenges adult logic and rationality. In the philosophical sense, childhood embodies the potential for liberation, reevaluation, and a return to the existential foundations of human existence. Literature, in this context, becomes a space for philosophical contemplation, where childhood reveals itself as a point of departure from normative thinking and as a source of ethical and aesthetic authenticity.
Keywords: child, childhood, child’s world, world of childhood, adulthood, philosophy, literature, existence, artistic space, freedom.
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