Transforming girls : the work of nineteenth-century adolescence / Julie Pfeiffer.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Pfeiffer, Julie (Julie Kristine), author.

Contributor:

Judith Greenblatt Endowment Fund.

Series:

Children's Literature Association series

Children's literature association series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Girls in literature.

Adolescence in literature.

Teenage girls in literature.

Young adult fiction, American--History and criticism.

Young adult fiction, American.

Young adult fiction, German--History and criticism.

Young adult fiction, German.

American literature--19th century--History and criticism.

American literature.

German literature--19th century--History and criticism.

German literature.

Genre:

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Physical Description:

x, 198 pages : illustrations (black and white) ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Jackson : University Press of Mississippi, [2021]

Summary:

"Transforming Girls: The Work of Nineteenth-Century Adolescence explores the paradox of the nineteenth-century girls' book. On the one hand, early novels for adolescent girls rely on gender binaries and suggest that girls must accommodate and support a patriarchal framework to be happy. On the other, they provide access to imagined worlds in which teens are at the center. The early girls' book frames female adolescence as an opportunity for productive investment in the self. This is a space where mentors who trust themselves, the education they provide, and the girl's essentially good nature neutralize the girl's own anxieties about maturity. Drawing on best-selling novels in the United States and Germany (where this genre is referred to as Backfischliteratur), Transforming Girls reframes our understanding of the history of the girls' book and provides insightful readings of forgotten bestsellers. It also outlines an alternate model for imagining adolescence and supporting adolescent girls. The awkward adolescent girl-so popular in mid-nineteenth-century fiction for girls-remains a valuable resource for understanding contemporary girls and stories about them"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter one: Defining the backfisch

Chapter two: The romance of othermothering

Chapter three: Converting girls into women

Chapter four:The backfisch and fantasies of growth

Chapter five: The homesick heroine

Conclusion: loving girls, loving growth

Notes

Works cited

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Judith Greenblatt Endowment Fund.

Other Format:

Online version: Pfeiffer, Julie. Transforming girls

ISBN:

9781496836267

149683626X

9781496836274

1496836278

OCLC:

1250309758

Publisher Number:

99988704864