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Childhood, in our age, seems sacred. But that was not always the case. The invention of a phase that is distinctively different from adulthood, and not in a bad way, can roughly be placed in the 19th century. The 20th century then saw a huge increase in all things childhood, especially childhood-themed literature. We will be examining famous stories like J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan, J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit or Enid Blyton’s Five on a Treasure Island. We will put a special focus on how gender is dealt with during the first half of the 20th century. Students who have attended my seminar “The invention of Children’s Literature” (WS 18/19) will find this seminar an addition to what they already know. It is, however, not mandatory to have been part of said seminar. Literature will be made available in our first session. |
