Childhood, Marginality, and the Politics of the Civilising Process : A Discursive Genealogy of Children’s Historical Subjectivity / by Behnaz Amani.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Amani, Behnaz., author.

Series:

Critical Cultural Studies of Childhood, 2731-6378

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Early childhood education.

Literacy.

Critical theory.

Children's literature.

Sex.

Early Childhood Education.

Critical Theory.

Children's Literature.

Gender Studies.

Local Subjects:

Early Childhood Education.

Literacy.

Critical Theory.

Children's Literature.

Gender Studies.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (229 pages)

Edition:

1st ed. 2026.

Place of Publication:

Cham : Springer Nature Switzerland : Imprint: Palgrave Macmillan, 2026.

Summary:

This book offers a critical re-evaluation of the institution of childhood through a discursive and genealogical lens, examining how modern subjectivity, power, and marginality have shaped the child's figure. Drawing on critical theory, Foucauldian analysis, and poststructuralist thought, it traces the historical and literary construction of the child subject from the Enlightenment through to the neoliberal present. Analysing canonical texts—including the Grimms’ fairy tales, Carroll’s Alice, and Gaiman’s Coraline—the book interrogates the civilising process and its role in producing normative childhood. It challenges prevailing assumptions in Childhood Studies, children’s literature, and educational theory by foregrounding the contradictions, exclusions, and political functions embedded in childhood discourse. This work speaks to scholars in Childhood and Youth Studies, Literary and Cultural Theory, and Children’s Literature, seeking a deeper understanding of how the child is discursively mobilised in social control, identity formation, and cultural reproduction projects. By problematising the utopian ideal of childhood, the book reorients the field toward a more critical, historically grounded engagement with the politics of marginality. Behnaz Amani holds a PhD in English Literature, with research specialisations in children’s literature, critical theory, gender studies, and postcolonial discourse. She has taught and conducted research at universities in Iran and Germany, including teaching a related subject in the Department of Children’s Studies at the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam. Her academic work centres on the discursive construction of childhood, the civilising process, Foucauldian genealogies, and the intersection of literature, pedagogy, and politics.

Contents:

Chapter 1: Theorizing Childhood - Between Ontology and Ideology

Chapter 2: The Advent of the Civilising Process and the Birth of Modern Technologies of Power as Epitomized by the Move from Folk Tales to Fairy Tales

Chapter 3: The Conteuses and the Gender Politics of Civilite

Chapter 4: Fairy Tale Reform and the Moral Instrumentalisation of Childhood in Perrault

Chapter 5: The Institution of Childhood and the Formation of the Modern Identity of Nationalism through German Fairy Tales

Chapter 6: Conclusion.

Notes:

Print version record.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9783032246806

OCLC:

1611795405