The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism

Dr. Roberta Seelinger Trites 8-4652 (ENG); 8-5701 (MQM)
Office hours: STV 207/SFHB 250

ENG 471: Critical Theories in Children’s LiteratureSpring 2017

Required texts:

Course objectives: This course is an introduction to critical theory in children’s and adolescent literature with an emphasis on recent trends in the theorization of the field. The course will cover theoretical issues that have influenced the study of children’s/adolescent literature and theoretical scholarship published in the field of children’s/adolescent literature. Theories covered will include but are not limited to the following: historicism, structuralism, narrative theory, intersectionality and CRT, political economics, gender studies, psychoanalysis, postcolonialism, and ecocriticism.

Students in this class will also explore the interplay between the “linguistic turn” (i.e., poststructuralism) and the “material turn” (e.g., ecocriticism and material feminism) as these theoretical approaches have influenced the study of children’s and adolescent literature. Constructs of the “posthuman” will receive particular attention, since intersectionality, the cyborg, the dystopic, technology, and environmental crisis are all current and frequently discussed topics in the “material turn” of this field.

The requirements for this class involve extensive reading each week. Not reading is not an option, and students who anticipate difficulties in completing weekly assignments are encouraged to explore other course options. Students are encouraged to defray expenses for this class by relying on Milner’s e-books and Milner’s electronic course reserves.

Course requirements:

Class participation: 15%Response papers: 20%Annotated bibliography: 15%Oral report and discussion: 20%Seminar paper: 30%

Class participation: Students are expected to attend every seminar for the full three hours, plus attend the Lois Lenski Lecture in March. Students are expected to have read the material scheduled for each class prior to each class meeting and to then engage actively in the class discussion.

Response essays: Before midnight each Monday, students will post to me and to each other a response essay that analyzes how the major theoretical issues raised in the readings for the week interact with each other. What is each theorist arguing? How do the theorists engage with each other’s ideas? How do they agree and disagree? Please post your response to every student in the class, and please limit your response to 500 words.

Oral report and discussion: Each week, one student will be responsible for leading a portion of the class discussion on an entire book. Usually, the rest of the class will have read at least one chapter from this book. Please ensure that your report has some sort of thesis or theme; we do not need you to resummarize what we have already read. The oral presenter is also responsible for providing fellow students with an UNannotated bibliography of related theoretical works (including reviews of the book under discussion) in children’s literature, and with contributing substantively to the online discussion. Thus, for at least one week, each student will have the responsibility of leading class discussion. The report should be about 30-45 minutes.

Annotated bibliography: On March 28, students (except for the student presenter) will submit an annotated bibliography on the topic of the individual’s seminar paper. Annotations need be only one or two sentences, but please do enough research to thoroughly cover the breadth of materials available on your topic. Follow MLA style scrupulously! (The student presenter on March 28 may turn in the annotated bib on April 4.)

Seminar paper: Each student is to perform a theoretically engaged reading of a topic in children’s and/or adolescent literature. I encourage you to direct this project toward some useful future purpose, such as a master’s thesis proposal, a dissertation chapter, or a journal article. The paper is to be approximately 20 pages long. Students must consult with me about their paper topics; I will not accept papers on topics that I have not approved. It is assumed that students will not switch topics after the March 28 annotated bibliography is completed. Seminar papers are due April 25. Please expect to give a 5 minute presentation about your paper’s thesis and basic outline on April 25.

Policies:

· Students are expected to attend class. It is impossible to imagine how students who have missed more than two or three classes will be able to complete all of the expectations for the course.

· Any assignment that is late will be penalized one letter grade per day that it is late.

· I expect you to have read the assignments listed on the syllabus before you come to class. Yes, I know it’s a lot of reading. Please recognize that there is a direct correlation between your self-presentation and how other people perceive you. (In other words, when you are unprepared and/or complain, you negatively affect how other people perceive you professionally.)

· Proofread everything you turn in, because grammar, organization, MLA style, and mechanics are a substantial part of every grade you receive.

· I will not discuss any evaluation I have given your work until at least twenty-four hours after you have received the evaluation.

· Any student needing to arrange a reasonable accommodation for a documented disability should contact Student Access and Accommodation Services at 350 Fell Hall, 438-5853 (voice), 438-8620 (TTY).

Communication:

I consider communication between the student and the instructor a key factor in maximizing students’ learning. Please feel free to email me at the address above; I also find email exchanges with students very fruitful.

Moreover, I encourage you to contact me to set up an appointment. Students are my top priority; don’t be afraid to contact me, even when I am in MQM!

One final note: I expect students to treat each other respectfully at all times both in class and outside of class. Sometimes, discussions will touch on controversial topics. When we treat each other with as much civility and professionalism as possible, our discussions will generate the best possible learning environment for all students.

Webpage: http://www.cas.ilstu.edu/english/trites/index.htm

READI`NG SCHEDULE: ENG 471, Spring 2017

January 17: Children’s Literature TheoryPeter Hunt, “Narrative Theory and Children’s Literature,” Children’s Literature Association Quarterly 9.4 (1984), Milner e-journal, 191-94.

Perry Nodelman, “The Hidden Adult,” from The Hidden Adult (2008), Milner e-reserve through Reggienet, pages 206-210.

Maria Nikolajeva, “Introduction: Why Does Pippi Sleep with her Feet on the Pillow?” from Power, Voice, and Subjectivity in Literature for Young Readers (2009), Milner e-book, pages 1-11.

January 24: Historicism

Julia L. Mickenberg, “Lyrical Leftists, Juvenile Publishing, and the Politics of Progressive Education,” from Learning from the Left: Children’s Literature the Cold War, and Radical Politics in the United States (2006), Milner e-reserve through Reggienet, pages 23-50.

Paula Connelly, “Slavery Debates for Children, 1790-1865: Abolitionist Responses” from Slavery in American Children’s Literature, 1790-2010 (2013), Milner e-book, 13-51.

Phil Nel, “Was the Cat in the Hat Black?: Exploring Dr. Seuss’s Racial Imagination,” Children’s Literature 42 ( 2014), Milner e-journal, 71-98.

Florian Krobb, “Imaginary Conquest and Epistemology in Nineteenth-Century Adventure Literature: Africa in Jules Verne, Burmann, May, and Twain,” Children’s Literature 44 (2016), Milner e-journal, 1-20.

January 31: Semiotics and Picture BooksSaussure, Course in General Linguistics, “Part I, General Principles,” Milner e-reserve through Reggienet, 65-70.

Perry Nodelman, Chapter 7, “The Relationships of Pictures and Words,” Words About Pictures (1988), Milner e-reserve through Reggienet, 193-221.

Larry Sipes, “How Picture Books Work: A Semiotically Framed Theory of Text-Picture Relationships,” Children’s Literature in Education 29.2 (1998), Milner e-journal, 97-108.

Margaret Mackey, “Asking the Questions: How We Understand Stories,” from Narrative Pleasures in Young Adult Novels, Films and Video Games (2011), Milner e-book, 1-14.

February 7: Narrative TheorySeymour Chatman, Chapter 4, “Discourse: Nonnarrated Stories,” Story and Discourse (1978), Milner e-reserve through Reggienet, 146-58.

Peter Lamarque, “Introdution, Points of View,” Fictional Points of View (1996), Milner e-reserve through Reggienet, 1-22.

Holly Blackford, “Introduction: Reading for the Narcissus,” The Myth of Persephone in Girls’ Fantasy Literature (2012), Milner e-reserve through Reggienet, 1-21.

Sara K. Day, Chapter 1, “She is a Creature Designed for Reading,” Reading Like a Girl (2013), Milner e-book, 3-28.

February 14: Race and IntersectionalityP.H. Collins, “Chapter 1: The Politics of Black Feminist Thought,” Black Feminist Thought (1990), Milner e-book, 1-19.

Violet K. Harris, “Chapter 11: The Complexity of Debates about Multicultural Literature and Cultural Authenticity,” from Stories Matter: The Complexity of Cultural Authenticity in Children’s Literature (2003), Milner e-reserve through Reggienet, 116-34.

Michelle H. Martin, “Historical America through the Eyes of the Black Child,” Brown Gold: Milestones of African-American Children’s Picture Books (2004), Milner e-reserve through Reggienet, 133-49

Michael Hames-García, “How Real is Race?” from Identity Complex: Making the Case for Multiplicity (2011), Milner e-reserve through Reggienet, 39-68.

Suriyan Panlay, “Chapter 1: Introduction,” from Racism in Contemporary African American Chidlren’s and Adolescent Literature (2016), Milner e-reserve through Reggienet, 1-17.

February 21: Psychoanalysis and Desire

Julia Kristeva, “The Adolescent Novel,” from Abjection, Melancholia, and Love, Milner e-reserve through Reggienet, 8-23.

Karen Coats, “Chapter 4: Looking Glasses and Neverlands: Beyond the Symbolic,” from Looking Glasses and Neverlands: Lacan, Desire, and Subjectivity in Children’s Literature (2004), Milner e-reserve through Reggienet, 77-95.

Jane Newland, “Toward a Zeroth Voice: Theorizing Voice in Children’s Literature with Deleuze,” Jeunesse 1.2 (2009), Milner e-journal, 10-34.Kenneth Kidd, “Chapter 5: ‘A Case History of Us All: The Adolescent Novel before and after Salinger,” from Freud in Oz (2011), Milner e-book, 139-80.

February 28: Material and Cultural StudiesJack Zipes, “The Cultural Homogenization of American Children,” from Sticks and Stones: The Troublesome Success of Children’s Literature (2001), Milner e-reserve through Reggienet, 1-23.

Jodie Slothower and Jan Susina, “Chapter 2: Delicious Supplements: Literary Cookbooks as Additives to Children’s Texts,” from Critical Approaches to Food in Children’s Literature (2009), Milner e-book, 21-38.

Chris Breu, “Introduction: Theorizing Materiality in the Age of Biopolitics,” from Insistence of the Material (2014), Milner e-reserve through Reggienet, 1-33.

Michelle Abate, “Introduction: It’s a Small World After All,” from The Big Smallness (2016), Milner e-book, 1-31.

March 7: Feminism

Lissa Paul, “Enigma Variations: What Feminist Theory Knows about Children’s Literature,” Signal (Sept. 1987), Milner e-reserve through Reggienet, 186-201. Roberta Seelinger Trites, “Chapter 1: Defining the Feminist Children’s Novel,” from Waking Sleeping Beauty (1997), Milner e-reserve through Reggienet, 1-9.

Elizabeth Marshall, “Stripping for the Wolf: Rethinking Representations of Gender in Children’s Literature,” Reading Research Quarterly 39.3 (2004): Milner e-journal, 256-70.

Mary Moran, “Chapter 5: Making a Difference: Ethical Recognition through Otherness in Madeleine L’Engle’s Fiction,” from Ethics and Children’s Literature (2014), Milner e-book,75-88.

Student presentation on Kerry Mallan’s Gender Dilemma’s in Children’s Fiction (2009)

March 21: Material FeminismsStacy Alaimo and Susan Hekman, “Introduction: Emerging Models of Materiality in Feminist Theory,” from Material Feminisms (2008), Milner e-book, 1-19.

Karen Barad, “Poshumanist Performativity: Toward an Understanding of How Matter Comes to Matter,” from Material Feminisms (2008), Milner e-book, 120-54.

Michelle Ann Abate, “Introduction: From Antebellum Hoyden to Millennial Girl Power:; The Unwritten History (and Hidden History) of Tomboyism in the United States,” from Tomboys: A Literary and Cultural History (2008), Milner e-reserve through Reggienet, vii-xxx.

Fisher, Jenson, and de Castell, “Dynamic (Con)Texts: Close Readings of Girls’ Video Gameplay,” Girls, Texts, Cultures (2015), Milner e-reserve through Reggienet, 261-86.

March 28: Ecocriticism (Annotated bibliographies due, except for student presenter)Cheryll Glotfelty, “Introduction: Literary Studies in an Age of Environmental Crisis,” from The Ecocriticism Reader (1996), Milner e-reserve through Reggienet, xv-xxxvii.

Sidney I. Dobrin and Kenneth B. Kidd, “Introduction: Into the Wild,” from Wild Things: Children’s Culture and Ecocriticism (2004), Milner e-reserve through Reggienet, 1-15.

Bradford, et al., “Reweaving Nature and Culture: Reading Ecocritically,” from New World Orders in Contemporary Children’s Literature (2008), Milner e-reserve through Reggienet, 79-104.

Alice Curry, “Introduction: Ecofeminism and Environmental Crisis,” from Environmental Crisis in Young Adult Fiction (2013), Milner e-book, pages 1-17. [Student presenter may give me annotated bibliography on April 5.]

April 4: Political Economics in Children’s Literature

David Harvey, “Introduction” and “Chapter 1: Freedom’s Just Another Word...” A Brief History of Neoliberalism (2005), Milner e-reserve through Reggienet, 1-38.

Naarah Sawers, “Capitalism’s Handmaiden: the Biotechnical World Negotiated through Children’s Fiction.” Children’s Literature in Education 40.3 (2009), Milner e-journal, 169-79.

Abbie Ventura, “Predicting a Better Situation,” Children’ Literature Association Quarterly 36.1 (2011), Milner e-journal, 89-103.Shauna Pomerantz and Rebecca Raby, “Reading Smart Girls: Post-Nerds in Post-Feminist Popular Culture,” from Girls, Texts, Cultures (2015), Milner e-reserve through Reggienet, 287-311.

Student presentation on Clare Bradford, et al., New World Orders in Contemporary Children’s Literature: Utopian Transformations

April 11: Queering Children’s Literature

Thomas Crisp, “From Romance to Magical Realism: Limits and Possibilities in Gay Adolescent Fiction.” Children’s Literature in Education 40.4 (2009), Milner e-journal, 333-48. Tison Pugh, “Introduction,” from Innocence, Heterosexuality, and the Queerness of Children’s Literature (2011), Milner e-book, 1-19.

Kenneth Kidd, “Queer Theory’s Child and Children’s Literature Studies,” PMLA 126.1 (2011), Milner e-journal, 182-88.

Lydia Kokkola, “Queer Carnalities: Adolescent Sexuality as Queer Sexuality,” from Fictions of Adolescent Carnality (2013), Milner e-book, 95-136.

April 18: The Cyborg and Posthumanism[If you have never before read Donna Haraway’s “The Cyborg Manifesto,” please find a copy online and read it!]

Katherine Hayles, “Chapter 1: Toward Embodied Reality,” from How We Became Posthuman (1991), Milner e-reserve through Reggienet, 1-24.

Stephanie Guerra, “Colonizing Bodies: Corporate Power and Biotechnology in YA Science Fiction.” Children’s Literature in Education 40.4 (2009), Milner e-journal 275-95.

Victoria Flanagan, “Chapter 1: Posthumanism in Young Adult Fiction,” from Technology and Identity in Young Adult Fiction (2014), Milner e-book or e-reserve through Reggienet, 11-38.

Zoe Jaques, “Introduction: The Child, the Book, and the Posthuman Ethic,” from Children’s Literature and the Posthuman (2015), Milner e-book, 1-22