Description
Book SynopsisThis collection argues that the romanticized conflation of “childhood” and “innocence” in American culture has been on a steady decline at least since the 1960s--largely due to postmodern critiques of overarching narratives involving both “the child” and the “innocence” of childhood. Additionally, this collection highlights and analyzes examples of children’s literature and culture throughout the 20th century (and into the 21st) which pointedly defy traditional, idealized notions of “childhood”. Such an analysis serves to reiterate the idea that the romanticized notion of “childhood” which has pervaded American culture for over two centuries is little more than a cultural construction that bears little to no resemblance to the actual, lived experience of American children.
Table of ContentsIntroduction: “The Death of Childhood”, James M. Curtis
Part One: Deconstructing 20th Century Childhood
Chapter One: “The Domesticated Adventuress: Dorothy Gale, Ozma of Oz, and the Pitfalls of Princess-hood”, Rodney Marcel Fierce
Chapter Two: “‘A Place for You’: Subjectivity and Representation in The Brownies Book”, James M. Curtis
Chapter Three: “Homecoming: Finding (and Losing) the American Child”, Rebecca Long
Part Two: Towards a More Postmodern Childhood: Challenging Childhood “Innocence” in the Late 20th and Early 21st Century
Chapter Four: ‘Growing Up Too Fast, Too Soon’: The Child Prodigy in Late Postmodernist Literature”, Oliver J. Hancock
Chapter Five: “In Support of Idyllic Childhood: How Book Challenges Reveal American Views on Childhood and Adolescent Innocence in the 1980s and into the 21st Century”, Sarah K. Mazur
Chapter Six: “Fear of Science in the Cold War and the Unknown Childhood: The It’s Alive Trilogy”, Erika Tiburcio Moreno
Chapter Seven: “Four Little Activists: The Death of Black Childhood Innocence in Spike Lee’s 4 Little Girls”, Douglas C. MacLeod, Jr.
Chapter Eight: “Technically I’m 112: Youth and Darkness in Avatar: the Last Airbender”, Colleen Etman
