Papers are solicited for a two-day international conference to be held at Canterbury Christ Church University, Canterbury, Kent, UK. Childhood in its Time seeks to trace how the history of childhood in Britain is reflected, portrayed, or even created, in literature from the medieval period to the present day.
The conference is particularly interested in how literary childhood is represented within its historical period and in how such representations develop over time. Papers are sought which discuss children or childhood in British literature within a specific historical context. We seek papers on both children’s literature and on the portrayal of childhood in adult texts.
Interested in the concept of childhood in British literature, i.e., not adolescence or the teenage experience, the organizers welcome proposals for papers or panels on topics including, but not limited to:
- The child in works by Chaucer and other Medieval writers
- Childhood in Renaissance and Early Modern texts
- The Shakespearean child
- Eighteenth-century interpretations of children
- Romantic childhood
- Children in Victorian literature
- Edwardian literature’s cult of childhood
- The child in modern and contemporary literature
Please email to BOTH conference organizers: adrienne.gavin@canterbury.ac.uk and andrew.humphries@canterbury.ac.uk, a 250 to 300-word proposal for a conference paper of 20 minutes or a proposal for a panel (including the proposals of three speakers each giving papers of 20 minutes). Please also email a 150-word biography and provide your name, academic affiliation (if applicable), contact email address, and state whether you need any facilities or equipment to deliver your proposed paper.
Conference website: http://www.canterbury.ac.uk/arts-humanities/english-language-studies/ChildhoodInItsTime.aspx