In this Book
- Elusive Childhood: Impossible Representation in Modern Fiction
- Book
- 2005
- Published by: The Ohio State University Press
summary
Elusive Childhood examines how discourse touched by the identity politics of youth might be revised for fairness. Susan Honeyman demonstrates this potential by reading representations of children from throughout the Modern episteme in works of such writers as Henry James, Edith Wharton, and James Baldwin. Identity politics have changed the way we classify literature by opening up the canon, but they have also changed the way we approach literature. We’ve learned to recognize that biology is not destiny—sex doesn’t necessarily determine gender or orientation, nor do fictitious absolutes like blood ratios measure ethnocultural identity, and so in an effort to avoid false generalizing about “others” we endorse individual self-representation, all the while recognizing how society constructs us. But when it comes to representing the position we call childhood, there is little opportunity in legitimated discourse for children’s self-representation and inadequate attention to social constructedness. Recognizing political inequity in literary representations of children, Honeyman proposes a method of reading child figuration in relief to impose as little adult prejudice as possible. This might be impossible for adults, yet it is necessary to attempt.
Table of Contents
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- Table of Contents
- pp. v-vi
- Acknowledgments
- pp. vii-viii
- Introduction
- pp. 1-6
- Chapter 3. Childhood Bound
- pp. 51-79
- Chapter 4. Reversing Development
- pp. 80-114
- Chapter 5. Disrupting Discourse
- pp. 115-141
- Conclusion: The Possibilities of Unknowing
- pp. 142-152
- Bibliography
- pp. 159-169
Additional Information
ISBN
9780814272695
Related ISBN(s)
9780814210048
MARC Record
OCLC
607718534
Pages
184
Launched on MUSE
2015-01-01
Language
English
Open Access
Yes