Louisa May Alcott and the Textual Child

Zusatztext

<p>This book examines constructions of childhood in the works of Louisa May Alcott. While<i>Little Women</i> continues to gain popular and critical attention, Alcotts wider works for children have largely been consigned to history. This book therefore investigates Alcotts lesser-known childrens texts to reconsider critical assumptions about childhood in her works and in literature more widely. Kristina West investigates the trend towards reading Alcotts life into her works; readings of gender and sexuality, race, disability, and class; the sentimental domestic; portrayals of Transcendentalism and American education; and adaptations of these works. Analyzing Alcott as a writer for twenty-first-century children, West considers Alcotts place in the childrens canon and how new media and fan fiction impact readings of her works today.</p>

Autorenportrait

<p><b>Kristina West</b> completed her PhD on constructions of childhood in the writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson and is an affiliated member of the Graduate Centre for International Research in Childhood: Literature, Culture, Media at the University of Reading. Her research focuses on American literature, children¿s literature, and critical theory. She will soon publish her next book, <i>Reading the Salem Witch Child</i>. </p>

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