Lusia Zaitseva


Fall 2020
Dr. Lusia Zaitseva





Expos 20: Representing childhood



The aim of this course is to prepare you to write things worth reading, and writing, at the college level. We'll operate on three premises:


Writing is THINKING

Writing is a PROCESS

Writing is a CONVERSATION


To practice the essential elements of academic argument—thesis, motive, stakes, and structure (to name just a few)—we'll take childhood as our subject.


The French modernist poet Charles Baudelaire famously called genius “childhood rediscovered at will,” and painters and writers of the 20th century looked to childhood for inspiration in their works. Their interest in childhood speaks to the prevalent attitude that children have curiosity, joy, and authenticity that are often lost after the transition to adulthood.


But we didn't always see children this way, nor is our current view of childhood so one-sided. On the contrary, historians have argued that prior to the 17th century children were often seen as faulty adults, and Christian doctrine considered them born into sin. Moreover, today, many argue that not all young people get to partake equally of notions of childhood innocence, as some childhoods are valued more highly than others. There also exists a contradiction in our cultural attitude toward children: to call someone “childlike” might be a compliment and “childish,” critique, and furthermore the perception of how grown men and women partake of children’s qualities differs. As these two words suggest, we can’t seem to decide if childhood is a state to be cherished and preserved at all costs or a condition to be overcome.


In this course, we’ll take as our starting point the idea that much of what we think constitutes childhood today is actually a historical construction. As such, we see, children are particularly liable to be spoken for and about.


BUT HOW WELL DO ADULTS REALLY UNDERSTAND CHILDHOOD, OR CHILDREN FOR THAT MATTER?


WHAT DO ADULTS' IDEAS ABOUT BOTH CHILDHOOD & CHILDREN SAY ABOUT THEM?



unit 1: WRITING CHILDREN





In our first unit, we'll read short stories from three prominent writers: the science fiction authors Brian Aldiss and Ray Bradbury, and contemporary fiction author Lesley Nneka Arimah.


Aldiss's story about a child trying to make sense of a dystopian future of overpopulation and loneliness will be familiar to anyone who's seen the movie AI (dir. Steven Spielberg, 2001).


In Bradbury’s, a father tries to spare his son the agonies of childhood and growing up. Things take a supernatural turn.


Arimah’s tells of a world with no men where women fashion babies out of dolls for older women to breathe life into (or not!).


Using the story of your choosing, you'll consider some of the following questions:



IS WHAT WE VALUE IN CHILDREN INTRINSIC TO CHILDREN THEMSELVES?

WHAT ARE THE CONSEQUENCES OF OUR FIXATION ON THE YOUNGEST AND SMALLEST AMONG US TO WOMEN & TO SOCIETY AT LARGE?

WHEN DO STRUGGLES OVER CHILDREN BECOME ABOUT SOMETHING ELSE?



UNIT 2: REPRESENTATION OR EXPLOITATION?





In this unit, we’ll shift our gaze to the controversial photographs of American photographer Sally Mann as we question the limits of acceptable representation of childhood.


Mann photographed her three children for years as they grew up, capturing beautiful, whimsical, as well as violent and disturbing moments of youth. Her collection Immediate Family took the art world by storm when it was first published in the 1990s and caused an eruption of controversy.


What particularly angered some critics was the children’s nudity in many of the photos: Mann’s children, they argued, could not meaningfully consent to such photos circulating in the public sphere.


In your essays for this unit, you will have a chance to consider the fraught relationship between adults and children as you put Mann's images in conversation with theoretical texts by a cultural theorist (James Kincaid), a cultural historian (Harvard's very own Robin Bernstein), and art historian Anne Higonnet. You'll ask questions like:



CAN CHILDREN MEANINGFULLY GIVE CONSENT?

IS INNOCENCE ALWAYS WORTH DEFENDING?

WHAT TRUTH DO PHOTOS CLAIM TO REVEAL & HOW OBJECTIVE IS THAT TRUTH?



unit 3: childhood in the contemporary world





In our final unit, we’ll take our discussion into the present by exploring the many ongoing debates that have childhood at their center, from genetic engineering and climate change to global human rights campaigns and immigration reform.


More often than not, these debates are expressly political: at stake is the policy that shapes our complex social world. In your final research paper, you will have the opportunity to identify a topic that is compelling to you and present an original argument about it. You'll also gain experience translating academic writing for a broader public.