CfP: Jahrbuch der Österreichischen Gesellschaft für Kinder- und Jugendliteraturforschung 2025

Themenschwerpunkt 2025: Marlen Haushofer

Call for Papers für das Jahrbuch der Österreichischen Gesellschaft für Kinder- und Jugendliteraturforschung 2025

Das Jahrbuch der Österreichischen Gesellschaft für Kinder- und Jugendliteraturforschung (ÖGKJLF) bietet eine Plattform für Beiträge zur deutschsprachigen Kinder- und Jugendliteraturforschung sowie zu Kinder- und Jugendmedien. Willkommen sind sowohl Untersuchungen zu Neuerscheinungen und aktuellen Entwicklungen im kinder- und jugendliterarischen Feld als auch Beiträge zu Texten, Quellen und Diskursen seit dem 18. Jahrhundert. Deutsch- oder englischsprachige Texte sind gleichermaßen erwünscht.

Ein besonderes Anliegen des Jahrbuchs ist es, aktuelle kultur- und literaturwissenschaftliche Themen, Methoden und Theorien im Kontext der Kinder- und Jugendliteratur sowie der Populär- und Jugendkultur zu beleuchten. Darüber hinaus widmet sich das Jahrbuch intensiv der Erforschung der Geschichte der österreichischen Kinder- und Jugendliteratur und ihrer Stellung innerhalb der deutschsprachigen und europäischen Literaturtraditionen.

Neben einem jährlichen Themenschwerpunkt sind auch themenoffene Beiträge zur Kinder- und Jugendliteratur und -medien willkommen. Besonders erwünscht sind Vorschläge, die historische oder theoretische Überblicksperspektiven bieten.

Das Jahrbuch der ÖGKJLF löst das langjährige Publikationsorgan der Gesellschaft, die Zeitschrift libri liberorum (lili) ab.

Themenschwerpunkt 2025: Marlen Haushofer

Marlen Haushofer, deren Kinderbücher zu ihren Lebzeiten mehrfach ausgezeichnet und äußerst erfolgreich waren, beschrieb das Schreiben dieser Werke in Tagebucheinträgen und Briefen als angenehme und beruhigende Tätigkeit, die ihr Schaffen im Fluss hielt. Dennoch wurden diese Werke bislang vor allem als „Brotarbeit“ wahrgenommen und nicht in die neue Claasen-Gesamtausgabe aufgenommen.

Die Kinder- und Jugendliteratur Haushofers gewährt jedoch zentrale Einblicke in Themen, Motive und Diskurse, die für ihr Gesamtwerk prägend sind. Fragen nach den gesellschaftlichen Normen der 1950er- und 1960er-Jahre sowie deren Vermittlung, Ursprüngen und Grenzen durchziehen ihr Werk. Szenen des Widerstands und Regelbruchs stehen neben solchen der Anpassung und Erziehung, was neue Perspektiven auf die Beziehungen zwischen Kinder-, Kindheits- und Erwachsenenliteratur eröffnet und zugleich Haushofers Position auf dem literarischen Markt des Nachkriegsösterreich reflektiert.

Das Jahrbuch 2025 widmet sich daher den Momenten der Grenzüberschreitung in und um Haushofers Werk, mit einem besonderen Fokus auf ihre Publikationen für junge Leser:innen.

Mögliche Themenfelder

• Erziehungsapparat und kindliche Moral
• Gehorsam und Rebellion
• Generationenzugehörigkeit und intergenerationelle Beziehungen
• Feminismus und Gendertrouble
• Tier-Mensch-Beziehungen
• Raum-Zeit-Kontinuitäten und -Diskontinuitäten
• Schreiben zwischen Kunst und Handwerk
• Populärkultur und Kanon
• Crossover zwischen Kinder- und Jugendliteratur und Allgemeinliteratur

Neben dem Themenschwerpunkt sind auch themenoffene Beiträge zur Kinder- und Jugendliteratur und -medien willkommen. Besonders erwünscht sind Vorschläge, die historische oder theoretische Überblicksperspektiven bieten.

Formalia

Bitte senden Sie Ihr Exposé (max. 2.000 Zeichen inkl. Leerzeichen) bis zum 16. März 2025 an: oegkjlf@univie.ac.at 

Eine Rückmeldung durch das Herausgeber:innen-Team sowie das Style Sheet des Jahrbuchs erhalten Sie bis zum 31. März 2025

Der fertige Beitrag sollte einen Umfang von max. 35.000 Zeichen mit Leerzeichen (inkl. Fußnoten, Literaturverzeichnis und Kurzvita) nicht überschreiten und bis zum 30. Juni 2025 eingereicht werden.

Verantwortliche Herausgeber:innen Jahrbuch 2025

Stefan Krammer, Dariya Manova

Editorial Board

Susanne Blumesberger
Stefan Krammer
Petra Herczeg
Dariya Manova
Sonja Schreiner
Georg Wendt
Marlene Zöhrer

CfP: «PAGINE GIOVANI» JOURNAL - 2/2025

Special Issue on Hans Christian Andersen– 150th Anniversary of His Death

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«Pagine giovani», a biannual scientific journal on children’s and youth literature in the Area 11 (Historical,Philosophical, Pedagogical and Psychological Sciences), founded in 1977 and currently published by Edizioni Anicia, has scheduled for n. 2/2025 (July–December) a special issue dedicated to Hans Christian Andersen on the 150th anniversary of his death, entitled:

Andersen, prince of children's literature. The man, the writer, the work.
Pedagogical revisitation of the Eventyr og Historier.

An exceptional and original writer, capable both of creating entirely new literary works and reinterpreting folk tales by elevating them through artistic mastery, Hans Christian Andersen is widely recognized as the “prince of children's writers”, as defined by the renowned scholar Paul Hazard. However, while his fairy tales and stories have secured his artistic legacy and a prominent place in the history of children's literature, they present challenges for educators, as they can be complex and contradictory—much like the personality of their author.

Given their complexity, a pedagogical reevaluation of Andersen’s Novelles is therefore timely, focusing on their relevance today and the ways in which certain aspects may have evolved in meaning over time. Such a critical examination takes into account advances in psychological, educational and sociological research and responds to contemporary educational concerns. One of the ongoing debates is whether all of Andersen’s stories are truly suitable for children or whether some require careful selection, excluding those that lack a traditional happy ending, those with an overwhelmingly melancholic tone, or those deeply layered with symbolic and allegorical meaning.

The Call for Papers also invites scholars to explore, from an interdisciplinary perspective, other aspects of Andersen’s work and personality, as well as his overall contribution to children's literature.

The following are some possible research themes and areas that could be explored in contributions to this Call for Papers

• Andersen: his personality and work.
• A critical and bibliographical review of national and international studies
• Language and literary style
• The animation of objects
• A comparative analysis of Eventyr og Historier, Perrault’s Contes de Ma Mère l'Oye, and the Brothers Grimm’s Kinder-und Hausmärchen
• A pedagogical Reinterpretation of Andersen’s Novelles
• Andersen’s fairy tales drawn from nordic folklore: pedagogical considerations
• An ongoing debate: are all of Andersen’s Novelles appropriate for children?
• A critical selection of Andersen’s Novelles, applying psychologically-grounded and axiologically-oriented criteria
• Implicit lessons.
• Human and civic values.
• Andersen and the epic of the humble.
• The celebration of love and sacrificial devotion.
• Andersen’s Novelles as a resource against prejudices and stereotypes.
• Relevance of Andersen’s Novelles to contemporary educational issues.
• Childhood in Andersen’s Novelles.
• Representation of women.
• Disability and representation of diversity.
• Representation of old Age.
• Death.
• Film and animated adaptations of Andersen’s Novelles.
• A passion for theatre.
• Andersen’s global legacy.

Interested contributors are invited to submit an abstract of approximately 1,000 characters (including spaces) in Italian or English, including a short biography and a selected bibliography, to the journal’s editorial coordinator at: claudiacamicia@libero.it by no later than March 1, 2025.

Submitted proposals will be evaluated through a review process and the results will be communicated by March 15, 2025.

Full articles, written in either Italian or English (ranging from 30,000 to 35,000 characters, including spaces), should include an abstract in both Italian and English, as well as any relevant illustrations, and should be submitted by May 31, 2025. All submissions will be subject to a double-blind peer review process. The expected publication date is September 2025.

(Quelle: Aussendung)

CfP: What persists?

2nd International Children and Youth Perspectives Conference

Time: 18 – 19 September 2025
Venue: Charles University, Prague, Czechia

The International Children and Youth Perspectives Conference is organised biennially by the Institute of Communication Studies and Journalism, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University. It is an interdisciplinary space for academics, researchers, policymakers and practitioners to discuss innovative research, policy, and practice fostering child-centred (participatory) and rights-based approaches. It aims to probe the categories of 'child', 'children' and 'childhood' as socially constructed and explore children and young people's everyday experiences of social and cultural phenomena across multiple childhood contexts globally. Our mission is to provide a regular forum for furthering debate in childhood studies and related disciplines, address the gaps, inform relevant policies and practices, and spot emergent themes in the field.

For the 2025 iteration, we have partnered with the WONDRE project funded by the European Union (ERC StG 101114939). The conference is facilitated by Dr. Tereza Javornícky Brumovská, Dr. Anežka Kuzmičová and Dr. Markéta Supa, with assistance from Kristýna Gajová and Karolína Šimková.

2025 Theme: What Persists?

There seems to be an omnipresent emphasis in children and youth-related discourse on ongoing large-scale transformations - social, cultural, political, environmental, technological, and more. The 2025 iteration of the Children and Youth Perspectives Conference instead asks what remains in children and youth’s lived experiences, in childhood and youth studies, and in research and practice with children and youth, that has yet to be brought to the fore. What has been long present and is ongoing and remains to be addressed? What aspects of children and youth’s lived experience may seem generally known, taken for granted, solved, or well functioning, but are not? What does persistence mean and how is it practised in diverse situations and contexts? 

Alongside theoretically and empirically based papers, we welcome thought-provoking critical commentaries and reflections from varied geographical locations and diverse contexts. Together with internationally and globally relevant topics and issues, we also wish to zoom in on niche and locally specific phenomena. Contributions from all disciplines and areas of practice are most welcome, but this time we would particularly like to encourage (1) papers bridging childhood and youth studies with arts, literature, and media studies, and/or (2) contributions focused on higher and professional education in childhood, children’s, and youth studies.

Submissions:

We welcome proposals for individual papers (200 words plus max. 5 references), symposia of 3 papers (200 words plus max. 5 references per paper and a 150-word introduction) and more interactive events, e.g., workshops or roundtables (350 words). 

Speaker bios of 50 words should be included with all types of submissions. 

Submit your proposals via this submission form by 3 March 2025.

(Quelle: Aussenung)

CfP and Conference

"Mothers, Motherhood, and Mothering in Children’s and Young Adult Literature"

Date: 12th – 14th November 2025
Venue: online 

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In their introduction to Mothers in Children’s and Young Adult Literature: From the Eighteenth Century to Postfeminism (2016), Karen Coats and Lisa Rowe Fraustino observe that “[w]hether living or dead, present or absent, sadly dysfunctional or happily good enough, the figure of the mother carries an enormous amount of freight across the emotional and intellectual life of a child” (3). Building on the work begun in the 2015 Special Issue of Children’s Literature in Education dedicated to representations of motherhood in children’s and young adult literature, Coats and Fraustino’s book intended to provide space for a range of critical approaches to mothers in children’s and young adult literature, thus beginning the process of filling a notable gap in the field; at the time, while work addressing mothers in children’s and young adult literature was slowly growing, it was also “scattered and lack[ed] cohesion” (11) and did not have the same “volume and quality of attention paid to mothers in other disciplines [such as] psychology, sociology, anthropology, history, women’s studies, and … literature for adults” (4). 

Nearly a decade on from this ground-breaking edited volume, the amount of scholarship addressing mothers and motherhood in children’s and young adult literature has steadily continued to increase. Significantly, there has been a noticeable flurry of new work in 2024, including two chapters in Family in Children’s and Young Adult Literature edited by Eleanor Spencer and Jade Dillon Craig; a chapter in Eating Cultures in Children’s Literature: National, International and Transnational Perspectives edited by Anna Gasperini et al.; and multiple journal articles. Research in this area, it appears, is reaching a crescendo. 

This online conference, hosted by the University of Münster, seeks to engage with this exciting moment in the field by facilitating scholarly conversations about how mothers, motherhood, and mothering are represented, mediated, and negotiated within children’s and young adult literature. While these conversations should be situated primarily within the fields of Children’s Literature Studies and Young Adult Studies, we are also interested in the intersections between these two fields and Motherhood Studies; in particular, as the title of the conference indicates, we are keen to explore the nuances of ‘motherhood’ and ‘mothering’ as defined by Adrienne Rich in her seminal work Of Woman Born: Motherhood As Experience and Institution (1976).  As Andrea O’Reilly, the founder of Motherhood Studies, neatly summarises, “the term ‘motherhood’ refers to the patriarchal institution of motherhood that is male-defined and controlled and is deeply oppressive to women, while the word ‘mothering’ refers to women’s experiences of mothering that are female-defined and centred and potentially empowering to women” (From Motherhood to Mothering: The Legacy of Adrienne Rich’s Of Woman Born, 2). In a political landscape that is swinging ever-further to the Right, as currently seen in the West, and in an already-patriarchal world that is becoming increasingly hostile to women, it is more important than ever that we investigate and interrogate the narratives surrounding mothers, motherhood, and mothering in books for children and young people.

Submissions

Submissions on any topic pertaining to mothers, motherhood, and mothering within children’s and young adult literature are welcomed, including (but not limited to):

• The role of children’s and young adult literature in (re)producing cultural schemas and scripts for mothers
• Mothers, motherhood, and family, including mother figures and ‘found family’
• Queer or transgender mothers, or mothers who otherwise resist the heteropatriarchal institution of motherhood
• Motherhood and community, including ‘other-mothering’, particularly in non-Western cultures
• Mothers across genres (for example: romance, realism, dystopia, sci-fi, fantasy) and cultures
• Representations of adoption and fostering
• Sex, sexuality, and motherhood, including depictions of young and/or potential mothers and of pregnancy or motherhood as a negative consequence of teen sex
• Politics, the body, and (teen) motherhood, particularly regarding access to reproductive healthcare like contraception or abortion in countries such as the United States, Northern Ireland, India, Poland, and Brazil
• The role of religion in texts depicting mothers, motherhood, or mothering
• Rejecting or resisting motherhood
• Absent or aberrant mothers
• Ecocritical and/or ecofeminist approaches (mothers in/and nature; Mother Nature)
• Motherhood, patriarchy, and power
• Scholarly approaches to children’s and young adult literature at the intersection of Children’s Literature Studies, YA Studies, and Motherhood Studies, as well as other inter- and cross-disciplinary approaches.

To be considered, please send a proposal of no more than 250 words, a short biography of no more than 100 words, 3-5 keywords, and the time zone you will be in during the conference to jennifer.gouck@uni-muenster.de by Friday 2nd May 2025.  

Publication Opportunity

A number of the participants from this conference will be invited to submit a revised, book-chapter-length version of their paper to be published as part of the edited volume provisionally titled Mediating Mothers, Motherhood, and Mothering in Children’s and Young Adult Literature. The collection will be submitted for inclusion in the series Palgrave Studies in Mediating Kinship, Representation, and Difference. Please indicate in your proposal if you are interested in this publication opportunity. 

More information on the series is available here: https://link.springer.com/series/15789 

Timeline

2nd May 2025 CFP Closes
June 2025 Notification of Outcome
Aug 2025 Speakers Confirm Attendance
Sept 2025 Conference Registration Opens
12th Nov – 14th Nov 2025 Online Conference

(Quelle: Aussendung)

CfP and Conference: The Multimedia Puppet

Illustrations in The Adventures of Pinocchio

Date: 5 July 2025 
Venue: Collodi (Pistoia, Itay)

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In the 19th century, technological advancements in the typographical field allowed unprecedented forms of collaboration between illustrators/caricaturists and journalists/writers. This synergy resulted in the emergence of a new multimedia landscape. Carlo Lorenzini alias Collodi was one of the Italian intellectuals who best understood the disruptive potential of this innovation. He recognized its critical importance for the spread of a free press, which was no longer subject to censorship following its abolition in Tuscany in May 1847. 

Collodi's contribution to "Lampione" (1848-49), a newspaper which he co-founded, already demonstrates his vision. In this periodical, the illustrations by artists such as Nicola Sanesi (Cabrion) and Assunta Moltini hold as much communicative import as the articles’ text. In many other newspapers of the Risorgimento period, the visual component interacts closely with the literary text and enhances its humor and satire. 

A similar relationship between word and image is central throughout Collodi's career and stands out in The Adventures of Pinocchio. The character of Pinocchio himself, that embodies Aristotle’s three degrees of soul (vegetal, animal and human nature), can be viewed as an ideal synthesis of anthropological humanism. For this reason he has given countless illustrators the possibility of drawing inspiration from the corporeal complexity that characterizes the human being. As Daniela Marcheschi wrote: ““Collodi induce a ripensare Pinocchio e quanto più di vero di profondo rappresenta: la meraviglia stupefacente della materia nelle sue varie forme e sostanze, e degli animali e degli uomini nei casi della vita e nello scavo analitico dell’anima; la pittura per tocchi stilizzati dei tipi umani e del paesaggio per ricrearli e farli sedimentare in noi; le atmosfere fiabesche e le magie; il nudo accadimento dei fatti, e gli imprevisti, le coincidenze, gli eventi fuori dall’ordinario e i loro dinamici ritmi”. 

The Adventures of Pinocchio is a modern novel precisely because it is multimedia. This fact is already demonstrated by its first volume edition in 1883, where the illustrations by Enrico Mazzanti, Collodi's regular collaborator since the publication of I racconti delle fate (1876), interpret and enrich the text. For over 140 years, Collodi’s masterpiece has fascinated dozens and dozens of illustrators all over the world, many of whom have offered an original and creative reading. 

The symposium The Multimedia Puppet: Illustrations in The Adventures of Pinocchio intends to relaunch the reflection on the close link between the writing and the illustrations, through the discussion, in particular, of the following themes: 

• History and criticism of the illustrations of Pinocchio 
• The collaboration between Collodi and Enrico Mazzanti 
• Italian and foreign illustrators 
• Illustrations of a country/geographical area and/or belonging to a specific historical period 
• Borrowings, echoes, influences from/on other media in/of Pinocchio's illustrations 
• Pinocchio illustrations for pop-up, interactive and other special editions 
• The Adventures of Pinocchio in the history of illustrated books 
• The illustrations of Pinocchio between graphic and printing techniques 
• The illustrations of Pinocchio as moral education for children and a case study in the history of pedagogy 

Interested scholars are invited to send an abstract of about 250 words and a biographical note of about 100 words to fondazione@pinocchio.it by February 28, 2025. 

Deadline for submitting titles and abstracts: February 28, 2025 

Email to which proposals should be sent: fondazione@pinocchio.it 

For information, call the National Carlo Collodi Foundation: 0039 0572 429613 

(Quelle: Aussendung)

CFP: Digital Childhoods – New Online Magazine From the Society for the History of Children and Youth

The Society for the History of Children and Youth is excited to introduce its new online magazine Digital Childhoods. A companion to the society’s peer-reviewed Journal for the History of Childhood and Youth (JHCY), Digital Childhoods offers a more informal and free-form space for sharing ideas and discoveries in the field. They hope this online space will grow to be a lively and accessible place that you will return to regularly.

There are currently three sections to the magazine:

Childish Things is an online gallery of objects that tell us something about childhood and youth around the world, from all periods of history. Each object or image has been chosen by a historian, curator or artist – sometimes from public museums and archives, and sometimes from their own lives and personal collections.

The Interview feature is an opportunity to hear more about the people and process behind articles in the JHCY. They discuss how authors discovered their topics, their frustrations and joys in writing, and hear their tips for researchers.

The Reviews section casts a considered eye onto works of contemporary public history, art, literature, podcasts, and more that deal with themes of youth and childhood.

Please do share the link to Digital Childhoods with others and consider contributing.

The Society for the History of Children and Youth cannot wait to hear your ideas!

Contact Information: Alice Sage and Hannah Stamler (<joomla-hidden-mail is-link="1" is-email="1" first="ZGlnaXRhbGNoaWxkaG9vZHM=" last="c2hjeS5vcmc=" text="ZGlnaXRhbGNoaWxkaG9vZHNAc2hjeS5vcmc=" base="">digitalchildhoods@shcy.org)</joomla-hidden-mail> 
https://shcydigitalchildhoods.org/dir/

(Quelle: Homepage kinderundjugendmedien)

CfP: Encyclopedia Entries – Canonical Children's Texts and Authors

The Children’s Literature Group is currently interested in proposals for entries on texts, authors, illustrators, editors, and librarians often considered canonical, crucial to historical study of children’s literature, and taught in college courses.

Possible Topics:

• Beverly Cleary
• Arnold Lobel
• Augusta Baker
• Beatrix Potter
• Dr. Seuss
• Eric Carle
• Mildred D. Taylor
• Eric Kimmel
• Robert Munsch
• Margaret Wise Brown
• Ezra Jack Keats
• Jon Scieszka
• Jane Yolen

For more information or to propose an entry, email Dainy Bernstein at dainybernstein@gmail.com.
Include: person or text of proposed entry, your CV a writing sample.

The Literary Encyclopedia publishes biographies of writers, illustrators, editors, librarians, etc.; scholarly descriptions of significant texts; and essays on literary, cultural, historical, and social contexts in which this writing was produced.

(Quelle: kinderundjugendmedien.de)