Childhood and Innocence in American Culture

James M. Curtis is instructor of English at Louisiana State University Shreveport.

• Introduction: “The Death of Childhood”, James M. CurtisPart One: Deconstructing 20th Century ChildhoodChapter One: “The Domesticated Adventuress: Dorothy Gale, Ozma of Oz, and the Pitfalls of Princess-hood”, Rodney Marcel FierceChapter Two: “‘A Place for You’: Subjectivity and Representation in The Brownies Book”, James M. CurtisChapter Three: “Homecoming: Finding (and Losing) the American Child”, Rebecca LongPart Two: Towards a More Postmodern Childhood: Challenging Childhood “Innocence” in the Late 20th and Early 21st Century Chapter Four: ‘Growing Up Too Fast, Too Soon’: The Child Prodigy in Late Postmodernist Literature”, Oliver J. HancockChapter Five: “In Support of Idyllic Childhood: How Book Challenges Reveal American Views on Childhood and Adolescent Innocence in the 1980s and into the 21st Century”, Sarah K. MazurChapter Six: “Fear of Science in the Cold War and the Unknown Childhood: The It’s Alive Trilogy”, Erika Tiburcio MorenoChapter Seven: “Four Little Activists: The Death of B

Childhood and Innocence in American Culture examines the problematic concept of “innocence” as it has too frequently been linked to Romantic notions of childhood. Deconstructing “innocence” in terms of race, gender, social class, and historical (mis)representations, this volume examines the transgressive potentiality of childhood as it is depicted in literary mediums created for children and adult audiences alike.