Call for paper: Picturing Otherness. A historical perspective on diversity in children’s literature (20th-21st Century)

Picturing Otherness. A historical perspective on diversity in children’s literature (20^th-21^st Century)  Hamburg, 1^st – 2^nd March 2023 The conference is organized by members of the History of Education research group of the Faculty of Education, Department of General, Intercultural and International Comparative Education as well as Educational Psychology (EW1), University of Hamburg and aims to be an opportunity for debate, exchange, comparison and interdisciplinary reflection on Children’s Literature and Diversity. Thanks to the participation of professors and experts in the discipline belonging to several national contexts and with plural academic backgrounds, it is intended to reflect and problematize the representation of diversity – cultural, religious, gender – in children’s literature and the fundamental role of inclusion that the latter has. The conference intends to address these issues from an interdisciplinary point of view - with the contribution of educational sciences, history and history of education, intercultural studies, sociology, media studies, literature, etc., considering the methodological innovations in this field and from a multimedia, cross-media and comparative perspective. Introduction Children's literature has always been a privileged place where "diversity" has been represented. Beginning with ancient fairy tales, orphans, the oppressed, the excluded, have found room among the pages of stories intended for children and adolescents. The child himself has found in the narrative a space to recognize himself - with his own imaginative needs, his own authenticity and identity, as opposed to an adult world often perceived as hostile, distant and alien to childhood. Therefore, if otherness has always travelled hand in hand and within children's literature, as an intrinsic element of stories, the changes of the contemporary age push us to investigate the way in which otherness inhabits children’s literature today and how the latter creates opportunities for the inclusion of otherness. Indeed, children's literature can be an important vehicle for inclusion. However, even today the “world represented in children's books is predominantly white. It is also a predominantly middle-class, heterosexual, non-disabled, Anglophone and male world” Crisp and colleagues tell us (Crisp, T. & alt, 2016). Considering this awareness, the objective of the conference is to analyse in an interdisciplinary perspective the imaginative changes linked to the construct of "otherness", "diversity" understood as cultural, religious, gender diversity, etc. - in the narratives aimed at childhood and adolescence. How has diversity found a place in children's literature in the past? How does it find space today? How has children's literature helped to represent contemporary reality, a reality in which all diversities should have recognition? The aim of the conference is not only to analyse historical changes in the link between children's literature and diversity, but also national and international best practices, as well as future directions and developments in this field of research. To explore these important issues, experts, and professors from academic institutions in different national contexts and with an interdisciplinary background were invited to participate and contribute to the debate. call for paper: CFP_Picturing Otherness ORGANIZATION Department of General, Intercultural and International Comparative Education as well as Educational Psychology (EW1) University of Hamburg Von-Melle-Park 8, 20146 Hamburg, Germany CHAIR Maria Lucenti (University of Hamburg, Germany) CONFERENCE CURATORS Maria Lucenti (University of Hamburg, Germany) Alexander Nordt (University of Hamburg, Germany) SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE Maria Lucenti (University of Hamburg, Germany) Sylvia Kesper-Biermann (University of Hamburg, Germany) Alexander Nordt (University of Hamburg, Germany) Marnie Campagnaro (University of Padua, Italy) Anna Antoniazzi (University of Genoa, Italy) William Grandi (University of Bologna, Italy) Sivane Hirsch (University of Quebec in Trois-Rivières, Canada) LOCAL COMMITTEE & STAFF CONFERENCE Maria Lucenti (University of Hamburg, Germany) Alexander Nordt (University of Hamburg, Germany) Sylvia Kesper-Biermann (University of Hamburg, Germany) Anna Strunk (University of Hamburg, Germany)