Inventing the Child

by Joseph L. Zornado

Now in paperback, Inventing the Child is a highly entertaining, humorous, and at times acerbic account of what it means to be a child (and a parent) in America at the dawn of the new millennium. J. Zornado explores the history and development of the concept of childhood, starting with the works of Calvin, Freud, and Rousseau and culminating with the modern 'consumer' childhood of Dr. Spock and television. The volume discusses major media depictions of childhood and examines the ways in which parents use different forms of media to swaddle, educate, and entertain their children. Zornado argues that the stories we tell our children contain the ideologies of the dominant culture - which, more often than not, promote 'happiness' at all costs, materialism as the way to happiness, and above all, obedience to the dominant order.

Genres: Nonfiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published December 20, 2000

Reviews

[Gretchen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ouf. Not an optimistic portrayal of childhood, but still a refreshing one. Zornado makes an interesting study of childhood through literary culture from Shakespeare to Sendak and how the parent-child relationship is a violent power struggle to maintain the dominant ideology of the day. I buy it.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Analysis of texts as cultural artifacts is strong but way overstates how it applies to larger world. Simplistic and reductionist thinking. No agency for children or ability to interrogate texts.

[Melusine Parry · Rating 1 out of 5]

Fearsomely under-argued, aggressive, sexist and reductive.