Fantasies of Neglect

Imagining the Urban Child in American Film and Fiction

Nonfiction, Entertainment, Film, History & Criticism, Performing Arts
Cover of the book Fantasies of Neglect by Pamela Robertson Wojcik, Rutgers University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Pamela Robertson Wojcik ISBN: 9780813573625
Publisher: Rutgers University Press Publication: September 19, 2016
Imprint: Rutgers University Press Language: English
Author: Pamela Robertson Wojcik
ISBN: 9780813573625
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
Publication: September 19, 2016
Imprint: Rutgers University Press
Language: English

In our current era of helicopter parenting and stranger danger, an unaccompanied child wandering through the city might commonly be viewed as a victim of abuse and neglect. However, from the early twentieth century to the present day, countless books and films have portrayed the solitary exploration of urban spaces as a source of empowerment and delight for children. 

 

Fantasies of Neglect explains how this trope of the self-sufficient, mobile urban child originated and considers why it persists, even as it goes against the grain of social reality. Drawing from a wide range of films, children’s books, adult novels, and sociological texts, Pamela Robertson Wojcik investigates how cities have simultaneously been demonized as dangerous spaces unfit for children and romanticized as wondrous playgrounds that foster a kid’s independence and imagination. Charting the development of free-range urban child characters from Little Orphan Annie to Harriet the Spy to Hugo Cabret, and from Shirley Temple to the Dead End Kids, she considers the ongoing dialogue between these fictional representations and shifting discourses on the freedom and neglect of children. 

 

While tracking the general concerns Americans have expressed regarding the abstract figure of the child, the book also examines the varied attitudes toward specific types of urban children—girls and boys, blacks and whites, rich kids and poor ones, loners and neighborhood gangs. Through this diverse selection of sources, Fantasies of Neglect presents a nuanced chronicle of how notions of American urbanism and American childhood have grown up together. 

 

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

In our current era of helicopter parenting and stranger danger, an unaccompanied child wandering through the city might commonly be viewed as a victim of abuse and neglect. However, from the early twentieth century to the present day, countless books and films have portrayed the solitary exploration of urban spaces as a source of empowerment and delight for children. 

 

Fantasies of Neglect explains how this trope of the self-sufficient, mobile urban child originated and considers why it persists, even as it goes against the grain of social reality. Drawing from a wide range of films, children’s books, adult novels, and sociological texts, Pamela Robertson Wojcik investigates how cities have simultaneously been demonized as dangerous spaces unfit for children and romanticized as wondrous playgrounds that foster a kid’s independence and imagination. Charting the development of free-range urban child characters from Little Orphan Annie to Harriet the Spy to Hugo Cabret, and from Shirley Temple to the Dead End Kids, she considers the ongoing dialogue between these fictional representations and shifting discourses on the freedom and neglect of children. 

 

While tracking the general concerns Americans have expressed regarding the abstract figure of the child, the book also examines the varied attitudes toward specific types of urban children—girls and boys, blacks and whites, rich kids and poor ones, loners and neighborhood gangs. Through this diverse selection of sources, Fantasies of Neglect presents a nuanced chronicle of how notions of American urbanism and American childhood have grown up together. 

 

More books from Rutgers University Press

Cover of the book Designing Sound by Pamela Robertson Wojcik
Cover of the book Transnational Aging and Reconfigurations of Kin Work by Pamela Robertson Wojcik
Cover of the book Our Caribbean Kin by Pamela Robertson Wojcik
Cover of the book Nursing with a Message by Pamela Robertson Wojcik
Cover of the book Gender and Violence in Haiti by Pamela Robertson Wojcik
Cover of the book My Fair Ladies by Pamela Robertson Wojcik
Cover of the book Battleground New Jersey by Pamela Robertson Wojcik
Cover of the book Junctures in Women's Leadership by Pamela Robertson Wojcik
Cover of the book You're the First One I've Told by Pamela Robertson Wojcik
Cover of the book Twelve-Cent Archie by Pamela Robertson Wojcik
Cover of the book Fault Lines of Care by Pamela Robertson Wojcik
Cover of the book Family Activism by Pamela Robertson Wojcik
Cover of the book There Has to be a Better Way by Pamela Robertson Wojcik
Cover of the book No Slam Dunk by Pamela Robertson Wojcik
Cover of the book Feminism and Popular Culture by Pamela Robertson Wojcik
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy