During the nineteenth and early twentieth century, a canon of “classic” texts for children began to take shape. This course invites you to (re)encounter such celebrated children’s books as Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Treasure Island, and Peter Pan. Many of these books have not only been read by millions of children and adults; they have also been adapted, parodied, and recycled—transformed into movies, musicals, television shows, clothing lines, china patterns, and so on. Why do we keep telling these particular stories over and over again? What does their popularity tell us about the history of childhood and its representation? As we read each of these texts, we will ask ourselves: What image of the child emerges from this book, and why do we as a culture find it so appealing? Besides tackling these questions, we will also investigate the ways in which the representation of childhood in these books intersects with race, class, and gender norms.
