Overview
Examines "evil" child narratives as they appear in a wide variety of popular texts
Argues that every subtype of the "evil" child narratives sheds light on a central issue linked to childhood
Illustrates how the "evil" child narratives transform over time as a result of a period's circumstances and ideologies
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Table of contents (7 chapters)
Keywords
About this book
Focusing on narratives with supernatural components, Karen J. Renner argues that the recent proliferation of stories about evil children demonstrates not a declining faith in the innocence of childhood but a desire to preserve its purity. From novels to music videos, photography to video games, the evil child haunts a range of texts and comes in a variety of forms, including changelings, ferals, and monstrous newborns. In this book, Renner illustrates how each subtype offers a different explanation for the problem of the “evil” child and adapts to changing historical circumstances and ideologies.
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Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Karen J. Renner is Lecturer of English at Northern Arizona University, USA. She is the editor of The 'Evil' Child in Literature, Film, and Popular Culture (2012) and the author of articles that have appeared in such journals as Frame: Journal of Literary Studies, Red Feather: An International Journal of Children's Visual Culture, and Film Studies: An International Review.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Evil Children in the Popular Imagination
Authors: Karen J. Renner
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59963-6
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan New York
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media Studies, Literature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2016
License: CC BY
Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-137-60321-0Published: 15 December 2016
eBook ISBN: 978-1-137-59963-6Published: 15 December 2016
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: VII, 213
Topics: Youth Culture, Childhood, Adolescence and Society, Genre, Media and Communication, Comparative Literature