Literary Cultures and Nineteenth-Century Childhoods

Literary Cultures and Nineteenth-Century Childhoods explores the construction of the child and the development of texts for children in the nineteenth century, using fresh theoretical approaches and attention to aspects of literary childhoods that have only recently begun to be illuminated. It examines how the child and family are conceptualised, how children are positioned as readers in genres, how literary childhoods are written and politicised, and how childhood intersects with perceptions of animals and the natural environment.

Format: Hardback
Length: 253 pages
Publication date: 29 September 2023
Publisher: Springer International Publishing AG

Literary Cultures and Nineteenth-Century Childhoods is a groundbreaking study that explores the construction of the child and the development of texts for children in the nineteenth century. It employs fresh theoretical approaches and focuses on aspects of literary childhoods that have only recently begun to be illuminated. The book examines canonical nineteenth-century novels by Charles Dickens, Elizabeth Gaskell, Charlotte Bronte, and Thomas Hardy, as well as well-known fiction intended for young readers by George MacDonald, Christabel Coleridge, and Kate Greenaway. It also broadens the definition of literary cultures to include magazines produced both by and for young people. The volume examines how the child and family are conceptualised, how children are positioned as readers in genres such as the domestic novel, school story, Robinsonade, and fantasy fiction, how literary childhoods are written and politicised, and how childhood intersects with perceptions of animals and the natural environment. The range of chapters and texts considered demonstrates the variability and fluidity of literary cultures and nineteenth-century childhoods.

Dimension: 210 x 148 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9783031383502
Edition number: 1st ed. 2024