Language and Communication in Histories of Children and Young People Conference

Greenwich Campus

“Language and Communication in Histories of Children and Young People" will focus on the development and use of language(s) by children and young people in historical, local and global contexts, with reference to questions of children’s voice, literacy, playfulness, culture, technologies, and protest.  It will explore the collision of children’s own productions with adult expectations, the intersection between language use and equality/inequality, and the ways language has been used to exert control as well as to foster self-expression. By focusing on communication, language use and production within multilingual and monolingual environments, it will provide a new lens through which to access “the voice of the child and young person” .

Through analysis of discourses from differing societal, cultural and international contexts and academic sub-disciplines, the varying mechanisms used to control, label and denigrate as well as idealise and sentimentalise the young in different age cohorts will be examined. The conference will also demonstrate how the silencing of certain experiences and social groups obscures injustice and oppression. Intergenerational forms of communication will link the conference theme to the history of the life-cycle.

BOOKING REQUIRED

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