Girls, Texts, Cultures

345 Pages·2015·2.98 MB·English

by  Clare Bradford and Mavis Reimer

G i r l s, T e xTs,
C u l Tu r e s
Studies in Childhood and Family in Canada Series
A broad-ranging series that publishes scholarship from various
disciplines, approaches and perspectives relevant to the concepts
and relations of childhood and family in Canada. Our interests
also include, but are not limited to, interdisciplinary approaches
and theoretical investigations of gender, race, sexuality, geography,
language and culture within these categories of experience,
historical and contemporary.
Series Editor:
Cynthia Comacchio
History Department
Wilfrid Laurier University
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G i r l s, T e xTs,
C u l Tu r e s
Clare Bradford and
Mavis Reimer, editors
Wilfrid Laurier University Press acknowledges the
financial support of the Government of Canada through
the Canada Book Fund for our publishing activities.
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Girls, texts, cultures / Clare Bradford and Mavis Reimer, editors.
(Studies in childhood and family in Canada)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Issued in print and electronic formats.
ISBN 978-1-77112-020-3 (pbk.).—ISBN 978-1-77112-022-7 (epub).—
ISBN 978-1-77112-021-0 (pdf)
1. Girls—Congresses.  2. Girls in literature—Congresses.  3. Girls in popular
culture—Congresses.  4. Politics in literature—Congresses. 5. Popular culture in
literature—Congresses.  I. Bradford, Clare, editor  II. Reimer, Mavis, 1954–, editor 
III. Girls, Texts, Cultures (Symposium) (2010 : University of Winnipeg) 
IV. Series: Studies in childhood and family in Canada
HQ798.G73 2015 305.23082 C2014-908367-X
C2014-908368-8
Cover design by David Drummond.
Text design by Janette Thompson.
© 2015 Wilfrid Laurier University Press
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
www.wlupress.wlu.ca
This book is printed on FSC® certified paper and is certified Ecologo.
It contains post-consumer fibre, is processed chlorine free,
and is manufactured using biogas energy.
Printed in Canada
Every reasonable effort has been made to acquire permission for copyright material
used in this text, and to acknowledge all such indebtedness accurately. Any errors and
omissions called to the publisher’s attention will be corrected in future printings.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written
consent of the publisher or a licence from the Canadian Copyright
Licensing Agency (Access Copyright). For an Access Copyright licence,
visit http://www.accesscopyright.ca or call toll free to 1-800-893-5777.
Contents
List of Figures • vii
Acknowledgements • ix
introduction Girls, texts, Cultures
• 1
Cross-disciplinary Dialogues
Clare Bradford and Mavis Reimer
I ● ConteMpoRARy GiRLhoods And suBjeCtivities
chapter 1 From Girlhood, Girls, to Girls’ studies
• 17
The Power of the Text
dawn h. Currie
chapter 2 on secrets, Lies, and Fiction
• 36
Girls Learning the Art of Survival
Kerry Mallan
chapter 3 disgusting subjects
Consumer-Class Distinction and the Affective Regulation
• 53
of Girl Desire
elizabeth Bullen
chapter 4 still Centre stage?

Reframing Girls’ Culture in New Generation Fictions of
• 75
Performance
pamela Knights
vi contents
II ● the poLitiCs oF GiRLhood
chapter 5 Warrior Girl and the searching tribe
Indigenous Girls’ Everyday Negotiations of Racialization
• 113
under Neocolonialism
sandrina de Finney and johanne saraceno
chapter 6 Girls’ texts, visual Culture, and shifting the Boundaries of
Knowledge in social justice Research
• 139
The Politics of Making the Invisible Visible
Claudia Mitchell
chapter 7 “doing their Bit”
• 161
The Great War and Transnationalism in Girls’ Fiction
Kristine Moruzi
chapter 8 Bollywood as a Role Model
• 189
Dating and Negotiating Romance
Kabita Chakraborty
III ● settLinG And unsettLinG GiRLhoods
chapter 9 Movable Morals
Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Flap Books and Paper Doll
• 211
Books for Girls as Interactive “Conduct Books”
jacqueline Reid-Walsh
chapter 10 Wild Australian Girls?
The Mythology of Colonial Femininity in British Print Culture,
• 237
1885–1926
Michelle j. smith
chapter 11 dynamic (Con)texts
• 261
Close Readings of Girls’ Video Gameplay
stephanie Fisher, jennifer jenson, and suzanne de Castell
chapter 12 Reading smart Girls
• 287
Post-Nerds in Post-Feminist Popular Culture
shauna pomerantz and Rebecca Raby
Contributors • 313
index • 321
List oF FiGuRes
FiGure 4.1
Manuscript illustration from the Ruth Gervis papers at
79
Seven Stories: The Centre for Children’s Books
FiGure 4.2
Illustration from Ballet for Drina, text by Jean Estoril, illus. by
88
Eve Guthrie and M. P. Steedman Davies
FiGure 6.1
Creating captions, Case Study 1: Growing Up as a Girl in the
144
Land of Coffee
FiGure 6.2
Presenting the analysis, Case Study 1: Growing Up as a Girl
144
in the Land of Coffee
FiGure 6.3
Posters, Case Study 1: Growing Up as a Girl in the Land
145
of Coffee
FiGure 6.4
Poster, Case Study 1: Growing Up as a Girl in the Land
145
of Coffee
FiGure 6.5
Gender-analysis poster, Case Study 1: Growing Up as a Girl in
146
the Land of Coffee
FiGure 6.6
Girls looking at photos, Case Study 2: Which One Is Not Like
147
the Others? What Do Our Photos Have in Common?
FiGure 6.7
Drawing, Case Study 4: Participatory Archiving—A New
151
Direction in Girls’ and Participatory Analysis?
FiGure 6.8
Drawing, Case Study 4: Participatory Archiving—A New
151
Direction in Girls’ and Participatory Analysis?
FiGure 7.1
Illustration from Mary Louise and the Liberty Girls, text by Edith
176
Van Dyne [Frank L. Baum], illus. by Alice Carsey
FiGure 7.2
Frontispiece from Grace Harlowe Overseas by Jessie Graham
178
Flower [Josephine Chase]
FiGure 7. 3
Cover from Grace Harlowe Overseas by Jessie Graham Flower
179
[Josephine Chase]
viii List of Figures
FiGure 7.4
Illustration from The Red Cross Girls in the British Trenches by
181
Margaret Vandercook
FiGure 9.1 219
Page spread from The Moralist, Cotsen Children’s Library
FiGure 9.2 220
Flap from The Moralist, Cotsen Children’s Library
FiGure 9.3 220
Flap from The Moralist, Cotsen Children’s Library
FiGure 9.4 221
Flap from The Moralist, Cotsen Children’s Library
FiGure 9.5
Page spread from The History of Little Fanny, Cotsen Children’s
226
Library
FiGure 9.6
Page spread from The History of Little Fanny, Cotsen Children’s
227
Library
FiGure 9.7
Page spread from The History of Little Fanny, Cotsen Children’s
227
Library
FiGure 9.8
Page spread from The History and Adventures of Little Henry,
230
Cotsen Children’s Library
FiGure 9.9
Page spread from The History and Adventures of Little Henry,
230
Cotsen Children’s Library
FiGure 10.1
Frontispiece from That Wild Australian School Girl, text by Ethel
247
Talbot, illus. by G. P. Micklewright
FiGure 10.2
Cover from Dauntless Patty, text by E. L. Haverfield, illus. by
248
Dudley Tennant
FiGure 10.3
Illustration from The Black Cockatoo, text by Bessie Marchant,
253
illus. by Lancelot Speed
FiGure 11.1 275
Screen capture from Super Smash Bros. Brawl, by Nintendo
FiGure 11.2 276
Screen capture from Metroid, by Nintendo
FiGure 11.3 277
Screen capture from Super Smash Bros. Brawl, by Nintendo
FiGure 11.4
Screen capture from New Super Mario Bros. Wii, by Nintendo
280
ACKnoWLedGeMents
This book is the result of the “Girls, Texts, Cultures” symposium hosted
by the Centre for Research in Young People’s Texts and Cultures at the
University of Winnipeg in October 2010. The symposium was funded
by the Trudeau Foundation through Clare Bradford’s Visiting Trudeau
Fellowship and by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council
of Canada through its Aid to Workshops program. Additional funding and
support came from the Centre for Research in Young People’s Texts and
Cultures and the Office of the Vice-President (Research) at the University
of Winnipeg.
We would like to thank Nicole Necsefor, who provided assistance at
the symposium and in research for the introduction; Kirstian Lezubski,
who copy-edited the first draft of the manuscript; and Larissa Wodtke,
who managed the collection of the image files and prepared the manuscript
for submission.