Journal of the stylistic of Persian poem and prose
volume Number 19، number In Volume 1، Apeil 2026 ، issue Number 119

A study on the intellectual level of children's and adolescents' literature (Case study: Discourse on poverty and class inequality and its comparison with the discourse of the Quran and Hadith on this issue)

Ali Hosseinalipour , Seyedeh Fatemeh Hosseini Mirsafi (Author in Charge), Mehrdad Nazeri

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Poverty and class inequality are among the most important contemporary social issues, whose reflection in children"s and adolescents" literature plays a decisive role in shaping the social, moral, and emotional awareness of the future generation. Children"s literature, as an educational and ideological discourse, can lead to the reproduction of inequalities and provide a suitable platform for criticizing unjust structures. With the aim of examining the intellectual level of children"s and adolescents" literature, this study examines the representation of the discourse of poverty and class inequality in a selection of literary works for children and adolescents and compares it with the discourse of poverty in the Holy Quran and Islamic Hadiths in order to measure the relationship between the literary-social perspective and the religious-narrative perspective.

METHODOLOGY: The present study is qualitative and based on the critical discourse analysis method. The data were collected through library study and analysis of selected and important texts in children"s and adolescent literature, as well as verses from the Quran and authentic narrations. In the data analysis, components such as economic poverty, class inequality, livelihood difficulties, child trafficking, and the link between poverty and suicide and psychological collapse were subjected to comparative examination.

FINDINGS: The research findings show that the discourse of poverty in children"s and adolescent literature fiction texts, as well as in Quranic and narrative texts, is based on a common foundation. In both areas, poverty is not considered simply as a material deficiency, but is a multidimensional concept that is linked to human dignity, social justice, collective responsibility, and moral education. In representing poverty, children"s and adolescent narratives often use patterns that are consistent with Quranic and narrative teachings about supporting the disadvantaged, denouncing injustice, and avoiding humiliation of the poor.

CONCLUSION: The results of the research show that the discourse of poverty in children"s and adolescent literature and Quranic and religious texts are aligned from a value and educational perspective, and both emphasize the importance of teaching justice, empathy, and human dignity to children and adolescents. As a result, the research hypothesis that the approach of children"s and adolescent fiction works is aligned with the Quran and Hadith is confirmed.

Keyword
Children's literature. Intellectual level. Discourse of pove