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Representations of Childhood in Comics Childhood is now widely recognized as a social construct (Fass, Jenks, Mintz). As the artifice behind the construction of childhood has been revealed, there has been a marked increase in the analysis of children and childhood in contemporary culture (Demarr and Bakermann, Edelman, Latham, McLennan, Renner, Stockton). Despite the increase in scholarly attention, depictions of childhood in comics and other forms of comic art are ripe for further study. The forthcoming issue of the Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics, focusing on comics, picturebooks, and childhood, should provide interesting insights into these depictions. Yet there remains plenty of room for consideration regarding how different comics construct childhood. This is an especially interesting area of inquiry given the somewhat vexed association comic books have traditionally maintained with childhood. In an attempt to continue developing the scholarly focus on childhood, as well as comics, we seek proposals for scholarly articles that analyze, explore and interrogate depictions of childhood in comics or comic art for inclusion in a book-length anthology. Potential topics include: What do comics teach us about current constructions of childhood? How do comics resist or undermine contemporary constructions of childhood? How can comics help us better understand the role of children in a given societal context? How do comics shed light on the relationship between children and adults? Between adults and their own childhood? How can depictions of childhood be understood as metaphors for specific cultural phenomena, values, disruptions or evolutions? What anxieties regarding culture, politics, education, etc. do comics reveal? How have ideas regarding childhood affected comics? Please submit an abstract of 300 words and a short CV to Mark Heimermann and Brittany Tullis at [log in to unmask] by January 1st, 2014 for consideration. Full papers will be due by June 1st, 2014. _______________________________________________ Exploring_childhood_studies mailing list [log in to unmask] https://email.rutgers.edu/mailman/listinfo/exploring_childhood_studies -------------------------------------------------------- MeCCSA mailing list -------------------------------------------------------- To manage your subscription or unsubscribe from the MECCSA list, please visit: https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?SUBED1=MECCSA&A=1 ------------------------------------------------------- MeCCSA is the subject association for the field of media, communication and cultural studies in UK Higher Education. Membership is open to all who teach and research these subjects in HE institutions, via either institutional or individual membership. The field includes film and TV production, journalism, radio, photography, creative writing, publishing, interactive media and the web; and it includes higher education for media practice as well as for media studies. This mailing list is a free service from MeCCSA and is not restricted to members. For further information, please visit: http://www.meccsa.org.uk/ --------------------------------------------------------