Readings in Pop Lit and Culture-Dracula

An exploration of literary works (fiction, poetry, drama, essays) that have had or have a popular readership, and an examination of the factors governing popular taste and literary production. This course provides a general introduction to children's literature and childhood studies through examining the cultural and political work of children's toys. From dolls and action figures to virtual pets and video games, toys enable children to create magical, miniature worlds that exist tucked away within the mundane realms of adult life. These worlds express children's own agency, dreams, and desires, yet they are never fully detachable from adult demands and broader political forces. Toys reflect how societies imagine and enforce codes of gender, sexuality, disability, race, class, nationality, and other categories of difference. They are moreover animated by stories -- from children's books to the narratives children construct as they play -- that further amplify "toy power."In this course, we will unpack the power of children's toys by studying their literatures, histories, and cultures. Primary texts will include two novels written for adults, along with children's books and popular media. Special focus will be given to how feminist, queer, disabled, POC, and other minoritarian perspectives complicate normative views of childhood. Topics to be discussed will include: the challenges of understanding child agency; childhood animism, innocence, and nostalgia; diversity and social justice in children's media; book-toy hybrids and convergence culture; Disney and Disneyfication; dolls from Barbie to American Girl; Pokemon, Transformers, and the globalization of Japanese toys; teddy bears and child-animal attachments; toy robots and AI for children; children as media-makers; intersections with adult forms of play and pleasure.