Literary Cultures and Twenty-First-Century Childhoods

In the early decades of the twenty-first century, we are grappling with the legacies

of past centuries and their cascading effects upon children and all people. We

realize anew how imperialism, globalization, industrialization, and revolution

continue to reshape our world and that of new generations. At a volatile moment,

this collection asks how twenty-first century literature and related media

represent and shape the contemporary child, childhood, and youth.

Because literary representations construct ideal childhoods as well as model the

rights, privileges, and respect afforded to actual young people, this collection

surveys examples from popular culture and from scholarly practice. Chapters

investigate the human rights of children in literature and international policy; the

potential subjective agency and power of the child; the role models proposed for

young people; the diverse identities children embody and encounter; and the

environmental well-being of future human and nonhuman generations.

As a snapshot of our developing historical moment, this collection identifies

emergent trends, considers theories and critiques of childhood and literature,

and observes how new technologies and paradigms are destabilizing past

conventions of storytelling and lived experience.

Part of a series of books which trace the changes in the way that the figure of the 'child' has been represented in literary cultures across the ages Takes broad definition of the term 'literary cultures' and how they intersect with digital, film, graphic narrative, comics, advertising, and other formats Features contributions from a broad range of academics across various disciplines

Auteur

Nathalie op de Beeck is the author of Suspended Animation: Children's Picture

Books and the Fairy Tale of Modernity (2010) and co-creator of Little Machinery:

A Critical Facsimile Edition (2009). Her work appears in The Oxford Handbook of

Children's Literature (2011), The Routledge Companion to Picturebooks (2017),

and journals including CLAQ and CLE. She is Associate Professor of English at

Pacific Lutheran University, USA.

Contenu
Table of Contents Introduction: Twenty-First Century Literary Cultures and Childhoods Nathalie op de Beeck I. Children's Rights and Role Models Children's Right to Participate: Insights from the Story of Malala Jonathan Todres The Wisdom of Getting Involved: Civic Engagement in Contemporary Egyptian Children's Literature Yasmine Motawy Bright Pasts, Brighter Futures: Biographies for Children in the Early Twenty-First Century Clémentine Beauvais II. Social Justice and Diversity in Literature for Young Readers We Need Diverse Books: Diversity, Activism, and Children's Literature Sarah Park Dahlen What Having Two Mommies Looks Like Now: Queer Picture Books in the Twenty-First Century Derritt Mason III. Representing Youth, Claiming Identity, and Exercising Agency Laughing Out Loud or Lost in the Woods? Tween Girl Identity in Picturebooks and Graphic Novels for Children Nina Christensen Ganesha Is My Best Friend: Homological Boyhood in Hindi Mythological Animated Films Anuja Madan Brazilian Childhood and Literature in the Age of Digital Technologies Edgar Roberto Kirchof IV. Coming of Age in the Anthropocene Animals in Children's Development: A Roadmap for the Twenty-First Century Gail F. Melson Examining Animal Bodies in War-Related Media for Children Amy Ratelle The Power and Potential: An Ecocritical Reading of Twenty-First Century Childhood Alice Curry V. Contributors Part of a Palgrave Book Series