AP/CCY 4145 6.00

Fantasy & Children’s Culture

Before we explore what "fantasy" constitutes, we consider competing, contemporary constructions of what constitutes the "real". We proceed to map how varied constructions of childhood had shaped, and were shaped by, their relationship to ascendant beliefs regarding "reality" as the realm of adulthood and "fantasy" as the province of childhood. Our course attempts to challenge unfortunately common child-fantasy/adult-reality binaries by considering how children's fantasy cultures engage a range of seemingly "adult" themes. These themes include racism, misogyny, sexuality, Islamophobia, mortality, constructs of family, and even constructions of childhood itself. Working principally with a global range of literature and film, CCY 4145 considers how fantasy cultures of children can test adultist fossilizations of children's possibilities.