CFP: Beyond Harry Potter: Theorizing Fantasy for Children (3/1/07; MLA '07)

full name / name of organization: 
Jackie Horne

Children's Literature Association Sponsored Session

Beyond Harry Potter: Theorizing Fantasy for Children
MLA 2007

This panel will examine new theoretical approaches to the study of the
genre of children's fantasy. Papers that address the following are
encouraged: How has the emergence of technology influenced children s
fantasy, a genre with strong roots in an anti-industrial, anti-urban
vision? Has the longing for a lost hierarchical society so common in
high fantasy, with its trope of the return of the lost king and the lost
social order, been replaced as global capitalism and corporations become
the dominant players in Western social organization? How has commercial
culture impacted fantasy, a genre with a strong anti-materialistic
history? Have the feminist quest heroines of the 1980s and 90s been
replaced or re-imagined for our post -feminist culture? Can recent
developments in cognitive theory or neurobiology lead us to new insights
about importance of fantasy in children's development? What is the link
between religion and fantasy? What narrative strategies do contemporary
fantasy writers employ, and how are such strategies different from those
of writers in the past? What characterizes a contemporary fantasy
hero/heroine? How do sub-genres specific to children s fantasy (animal
stories; toy and doll stories; magical adventure tales) relate to the
more familiar sub-genres of quest fantasy and travel to other worlds?
Papers that look broadly at the genre, rather than narrowly at
individual books, are most welcome. Send 1-2 page abstracts or 8-page
papers by March 1, 2007 to: Jackie C. Horne, Simmons College
(_Jacqueline.horne_at_simmons.edu_ <mailto:Jacqueline.horne_at_simmons.edu>),
English Department, 300 The Fenway, Boston, MA 02115.
--Jackie C. HorneAssistant ProfessorCenter for the Study of Children's LiteratureSimmons College300 The FenwayBoston, MA 02115 ========================================================== From the Literary Calls for Papers Mailing List CFP_at_english.upenn.edu Full Information at http://cfp.english.upenn.edu or write Jennifer Higginbotham: higginbj_at_english.upenn.edu ==========================================================Received on Sun Nov 19 2006 - 17:49:43 EST