Contesting Childhood

Autobiography, Trauma, and Memory

By: Kate Douglas

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Paperback | 15 February 2010

At a Glance

Paperback
236 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
23 x 15.3 x 2

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The late 1990s and early 2000s witnessed a surge in the publication and popularity of autobiographical writings about childhood. Linking literary and cultural studies, Contesting Childhood draws on a varied selection of works from a diverse range of authors--from first-time to experienced writers. Kate Douglas explores Australian accounts of the Stolen Generation, contemporary American and British narratives of abuse, the bestselling memoirs of Andrea Ashworth, Augusten Burroughs, Robert Drewe, Mary Karr, Frank McCourt, Dave Pelzer, and Lorna Sage, among many others.

Drawing on trauma and memory studies and theories of authorship and readership, "Contesting Childhood" offers commentary on the triumphs, trials, and tribulations that have shaped this genre. Douglas examines the content of the narratives and the limits of their representations, as well as some of the ways in which autobiographies of youth have become politically important and influential. This study enables readers to discover how stories configure childhood within cultural memory and the public sphere.

Industry Reviews

"Douglas offers a rich trove of insights into how versions of childhood are sold to fulfill a range of political purposes, both progressive and regressive, and how speaking through the voice of the traumatized child makes it difficult to tell the difference."

* Biography: An Interdisciplinary Quarterly *

"Douglas offers a rich trove of insights into how versions of childhood are sold to fulfill a range of political purposes, both progressive and regressive, and how speaking through the voice of the traumatized child makes it difficult to tell the difference."

* Biography: An Interdisciplinary Quarterly *

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