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The Non-Human and The Child: Monstrosity, Animality, and Disability in Literature and Media

Since it is seen as a time period or stage of life that precedes socialization, childhood is often viewed as a state of being that exists outside of the human. Therefore children frequently get associated with non-human qualities such as savagery or unearthly innocence in popular culture. This panel will explore connections between children and other non-human identity categories such as the monstrous, the animalistic, and disability in order to consider the implications such associations have in American culture.

Presentations

“A most hideous creature”: Mary Dyer and a Monstrous American Future

Presenters

Gina Marie Ocasion

Civilizing Human Exceptionalism: A Discussion of Paradoxes in Charles Perrault’s Donkey-Skin

Presenters

Jade Hage

Disability, Childhood, and the Supernatural in Game of Thrones

Presenters

Eva Lupold

The Southern Gothic Boyhoods of To Kill a Mockingbird and Sling Blade

Presenters

Vibiana Bowman Cvetkovic

Session chairs

Eva Lupold