Hello children’s
literature scholars!
We invite you to apply
to Children’s Literature Society’s panel in the American Literature Association’s
31st annual conference in San Diego, CA. The conference is May 21-24, 2020, and abstracts or proposals are due January
10, 2020.
The theme is: Building New Worlds: Empathy and Expanding Moral
Boundaries in American Children’s and Young Adult Literature. Below is the call
for papers for the conference!
For several years Children’s Literature has been
expanding its boundaries with stories that reflect the diversity of our nation
(e.g., socio-economic, racial, ethnic, gender, and religious diversity),
stories that engage previously marginalized multicultural historical
perspectives and such critical concerns as the environmental crisis.
For example, Mango
Moon by Diane De Anda tells the story of a young girl watching her father
taken away by ICE and her attempt to find some sort of comfort with this
devastating loss. This story—as well as
a remarkable growing number of other narratives—appeals directly to the heart,
to a moral vision that both illuminates and embraces the voice and plight of
“the Other.” And at their core is
empathy.
These narratives reflect the change in the
construction of childhood we have seen for several decades from the Romantic
Idealized Child, whose most identifiable trait was innocence and a need for
protection from the harshness of the world, to an adultified construction of
the child who can and must hear about these harsh realities. We are witnessing what can be termed a “new
moral literature” in which moral boundaries are being stretched through powerful
appeals to the heart and empathy, leading the child reader to a new world of
understanding and compassion. The
intention of this new moral literature is not to didactically affirm rules or
prescribed behaviors, but to open the heart. Empathy/compassion is the central
moral of these stories—the aim is to awaken the child reader to the humanity of
others, to experience compassion—and to encourage through such awareness acts
of graciousness.
Presentation topics may include: (1) Historically marginalized points of
view—a “new historical world” that includes the genocidal realities of Native
Americans, the trauma of slavery, the immigration crisis; (2) entering into the
worlds of diverse communities: the poor
and homeless; gender, racial diversity; being different/feeling different: body image, disabilities/mental health, queerness/transgender; (3) environmental concerns; and (4) pedagogical and theoretical issues: how might such stories affect the
classroom? What do these stories tell us
about the communication and effect of ethics/morals through narrative?
Two panels will explore these new worlds that affirm,
insist on our shared humanity by sharing stories of children caught in the
sorrows of the present.
The conference is at Manchester Grand Hyatt, One
Market Place, San Diego, California.
Please send abstracts or proposals (around 300 words)
to Dorothy Clark: Dorothy.g.clark@csun.edu and
include your academic rank and affiliation and
AV requests in the email.
-SS
