| The Nineteenth-Century Child and Consumer Culture Contributor(s): Denisoff, Dennis (Author) |
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ISBN: 1138276138 ISBN-13: 9781138276130 Publisher: Routledge OUR PRICE: $65.50 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: November 2016 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Literary Criticism - Foreign Language Study | French - Business & Economics | Economic History |
| Dewey: 034 |
| Series: Studies in Childhood, 1700 to the Present |
| Physical Information: 0.54" H x 6.14" W x 9.21" (0.80 lbs) 256 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: During the rise of consumer culture in the nineteenth century, children and childhood were called on to fulfill a range of important roles. In addition to being consumers themselves, the young functioned as both 'goods' to be used and consumed by adults and as proof that middle-class materialist ventures were assisting in the formation of a more ethical society. Children also provided necessary labor and raw material for industry. This diverse collection addresses the roles assigned to children in the context of nineteenth-century consumer culture, at the same time that it remains steadfast in recognizing that the young did not simply exist within adult-articulated cultural contexts but were agents in their formation. Topics include toys and middle-class childhood; boyhood and toy theater; child performers on the Victorian stage; gender, sexuality and consumerism; imperialism in adventure fiction; the idealization of childhood as a form of adult entertainment and self-flattery; the commercialization of orphans; and the economics behind formulations of child poverty. Together, the essays demonstrate the rising investment both children and adults made in commodities as sources of identity and human worth. |