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'True geography [ ] quickly forgotten, giving away to an adult-imagined universe'. Approaching the otherness of childhood

Jones, Owain

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Authors

Owain Jones



Abstract

In this paper I seek to explore the idea of the otherness of childhood. I suggest that there are considerable differences between the becomings of children and the becomings of adults. In the face of these a number of questions need to be asked about adult-childhood relations in society and about academic approaches to children and childhood, particularly in terms of representing childhood and the implications of such representing. The paper sets out the idea of otherness, locates this within current debate about the crisis of childhood, and then argues that non-representational approaches might be particularly relevant to progressing children's geographies. These approaches stress modesty, practice, experimentation, messiness, creativity and openness. As we age, childhood becomes another country, a disputed territory of memory and meaning. Its true geography is quickly forgotten, giving away to an adult-imagined universe. The contemporary adult vision of childhood has become so distorted as to render it opaque, and this opacity is seriously affecting how children grow up today. (Brooks 2006, pp. 4-5). © 2008 Taylor & Francis.

Citation

Jones, O. (2008). 'True geography [ ] quickly forgotten, giving away to an adult-imagined universe'. Approaching the otherness of childhood. Children's Geographies, 6(2), 195-212. https://doi.org/10.1080/14733280801963193

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Dec 1, 2008
Deposit Date Jan 6, 2011
Publicly Available Date Sep 20, 2016
Journal Children's Geographies
Print ISSN 1473-3285
Electronic ISSN 1473-3277
Publisher Taylor & Francis (Routledge)
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 6
Issue 2
Pages 195-212
DOI https://doi.org/10.1080/14733280801963193
Keywords children, childhood, otherness, non-representational theory, play, witnessing
Public URL https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/1019583
Publisher URL http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14733280801963193

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