Growing Sideways in Twenty-first Century British Culture

Challenging boundaries between childhood and adulthood

Author
Anne Malewski | University of Roehampton, London
HardboundAvailable
ISBN 9789027210081 | EUR 95.00 | USD 143.00
 
e-Book
ISBN 9789027258403 | EUR 95.00 | USD 143.00
 
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This volume examines changing boundaries between childhood and adulthood in British society and culture at the beginning of the twenty-first century − where these age boundaries are widely debated, policed, and contested − to investigate alternatives to conventional ideas of growing up. Building on observations, especially in children’s literature criticism, that human growth is shaped by a grand narrative that privileges adulthood, and on terminologies of non-normative growth, particularly in queer theory, this monograph develops growing sideways as a concept that queers this grand narrative by destabilising childhood and adulthood, and the boundaries between them. The concept is refined through close readings of twenty-first century British children’s literature, television series, film, and participatory events, troubling age boundaries via specific strategies in three conceptual areas: appearance, play, and space. Exploring power structures around age and gender, this monograph traces growing sideways as a distinct and important alternative discourse of human growth.
Publishing status: Available
Table of Contents
“With its thoughtful, impeccably researched, and conceptualised approach, Growing Sideways is an exciting work that will undoubtedly inspire future research.”
Cited by

Cited by 6 other publications

Deszcz-Tryhubczak, Justyna & Macarena García-González
Dulemba, Elizabeth O
2023. Board Books are for Babies, or Are They? The Art of Board Books and the Question of Intended Audience. Children's Literature in Education 54:3  pp. 376 ff. DOI logo
Lassén-Seger, Maria & Mia Österlund
2023. Survival Kits for Babies: Baby Box Books and Infant Temporality in Finnish Maternity Packages. Children's Literature in Education 54:3  pp. 334 ff. DOI logo
Malewski, Anne & Nick Lavery
2021. Jellyfish, Lions, and Ducks: Sideways Spirals of Growth in Lucy Ellmann'sDucks, Newburyport. International Research in Children's Literature 14:3  pp. 299 ff. DOI logo
Waller, Alison & Sarah Falcus
2021. Life Stages. International Research in Children's Literature 14:3  pp. 245 ff. DOI logo
West, Elizabeth
2022. The Silver Sword and the New Windmill Series: The Legacy of Ian and Anne Serraillier. Children's Literature in Education DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 6 december 2023. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Subjects

Literature & Literary Studies

Theoretical literature & literary studies

Psychology

Psychology

Main BIC Subject

DSY: Children's literature studies: general

Main BISAC Subject

LIT009000: LITERARY CRITICISM / Children's & Young Adult Literature
ONIX Metadata
ONIX 2.1
ONIX 3.0
U.S. Library of Congress Control Number:  2021041982 | Marc record