The Art of Childhood: The Fairy Tales, Books, and Movies We Think We Know
The Art of Childhood: The Fairy Tales, Books, and Movies We Think We Know
(18) The Art of Childhood: The Fairy Tales, Books, and Movies We Think We Know - Kara Morrow, Department of Art and Art History
From Disney to Dr. Seuss, the stories and images that entertain us as children shape our notions of the world. But what do we really know about these ubiquitous images? This seminar examines the historic, political, and religious foundations of the art of childhood in an effort to challenge our childish notions of visual culture and promote critical viewing of familiar imagery. Topics addressed in this seminar will include but are not limited to: constructs of gender and race in children’s literature illustration, the fairy tale in horror and in adult-themed contemporary culture, and the Third Reich and the Holocaust on the nursery bookshelf.
Readings/films may include:
- Catherine Orenstein, Little Red Riding Hood Uncloaked: Sex, Morality and the Evolution of a Fairy Tale
- Maria Tatar “Rewritten by Adults,” in Off with their Heads!: Fairy tales and the culture of childhood
- Neal A. Lester “Disney’s The Princess and the Frog: The Pride, the Pressure, and the Politics of Being a First”
- Chyng Feng Sun, Mickey Mouse Monopoly