https://doi.org/10.67147/literariness.v1i4.074
Narrative Constructions of Waste, Cleanliness, and Social Order: A Comparative Study of Select Children’s Picture Books
KEERTHY ELZA TES MATHEW
Research Scholar
Department of English, St. Thomas College, Palai, Kerala
Email: keerthyelza@gmail.com
PROF. DR. SUJARANI MATHEW
Professor and Research Guide
KE College, Mannanam, Kerala
Email: sujarani@kecollege.ac.in
Abstract: Children’s literature on environmental awareness plays a vital role in shaping young readers’ perceptions of waste, cleanliness, and ecological responsibility. This paper offers a comparative analysis of the works The Adventures of a Plastic Bottle and The Adventures of an Aluminum Can by Alison Inches alongside Michael Recycle and Litterbug Doug by Ellie Bethel, focusing on how they construct contrasting environmental narratives. While the former texts celebrate recycling through object animation and life-cycle storytelling, the latter enforce moral binaries by portraying waste as socially deviant and cleanliness as a virtue imposed through heroic figures. Drawing on theoretical insights from Waste Studies and Thing Theory, the study examines how emotional value is assigned to waste objects or, conversely, how these objects are marginalized within a throwaway culture. Grounded in critical and semiotic approaches, the analysis reveals that although both approaches aim to foster ecological awareness, they convey different cultural values: one celebrates reuse by humanizing discarded materials, while the other frames environmental responsibility within binaries of clean/unclean and included/excluded. This comparison highlights how children’s literature can both promote sustainability and inadvertently reinforce social hierarchies by moralizing dirt and associating cleanliness with virtue.
Keywords: Children’s Literature, Waste Studies, Recycling Narratives, Object Narratives, Throwaway Culture
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