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Juvenile Writings: Theoretical and Practical Approaches

1998; University of Western Ontario Libraries; Volume: 24; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1353/esc.1998.0003

1913-4835

Kathy Chung, Juliet McMaster, Leslie Robertson,

Themes in Literature Analysis

JUVENILE WRITINGS: THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL APPROACHES KATHY CHUNG, JULIET MCMASTER, LESLIE ROBERTSON INTRODUCTION JUVENILIA form a body of literature defined by who writes it. In this they are like, say, women’sliterature or native literature, but unlike Restora­ tion literature (defined by period), drama (defined by genre), Irish literature (defined by nation), or children’s literature (defined—unusually—by in­ tended readership). So much is mere truism. But it is worth noting, because in comparison with other categoriesjuvenilia have attracted minimal critical attention, and one has to begin at the beginning. Juvenile works are commonly considered, if they are considered at all, as the ur-writings of a given author, and as interesting only as shedding light on the “major” writings ofthat author when he or she attained the ultimate goal ofmaturity. This kind of author-specific approach inevitably inhibits a consideration of childhood writings as constituting a literary category wor­ thy of study in its own right. In this group of papers we take some steps— necessarily preliminary ones—towards theorisingjuvenilia, examiningjuve­ nile writings in relation to each other, and reflecting on particular issues in editing them. The Juvenilia Press, which provided the initial impulse for the three pa­ pers that follow, is an enterprise that grew like Topsy. Its evolution has been described in the pages of a former issue of ESC (McMaster 1996). Beginning as a classroom assignment in a course on Jane Austen, it now has a list of eighteen titles, early works by major authors including Austen, the Brontes, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, George Eliot, Louisa May Alcott , Margaret Atwood, and Margaret Laurence; and student involvement in the editing process continues to be a requirement. Inasmuch as the sales for each volume are largely to the specialists in each individual author, one staple constituent of the critical introductions and explanatory annotations has predictably been the connection of the early work of this author to his or her “mature” and canonical work. And for many of the guest editors— students and scholars—this has remained the principal and certainly suf­ ficiently rewarding concern. But those of us who have engaged the early writings of more than one author have become interested in the connections ESC 24 (September 1998) not only between the child’s productions and the adult’s, but also between different child writers. And those from other disciplines may well ask, “Why juvenilia?” and indeed “What are juvenilia?” Surprisingly enough, these are questions that have scarcely been asked before, never mind answered. The three papers that follow are by three scholars whose practical involve­ ment in editing one or more volumes for the Juvenilia Press has stimulated them to reflect on the critical and theoretical implications oftheir work. We stress the practical stimulus, because that has indeed been what led us to the consciousness of genre, the development of theory, and the awareness of the implications of the editing process that have made these papers happen. The Juvenilia Press, highlighting childhood writings first, and foremost, has focussed on connections between childhood and mature productions, and between then and now, ¡day and professionalism, scholars and students, and Press and readership. From the outset it has also been a team enter­ prise. We follow through on this tradition of co-operation by the present team presentation: our papers were initially presented together as a panel at the ACCUTE conference of 1997, and have subsequently been revised for publication, without (we hope) losing the personal flavour of papers arising from a joint, venture in research and pedagogy presented to a community of critics, scholars, and students. We offer different but complementary takes on juvenilia that include what they are, what makes them happen, the ways young writers relate to their readership, and the approaches useful to the critic and editor. We present our papers in a sequence from wide and generic to individual and particular. Leslie Robertson, who besides being assistant editor of the Press has co-edited volumes of Austen’s and Charlotte Bronte’s juvenilia, contests the hitherto dominant and largely unexamined model ofjuvenilia as “apprentice work,” and suggests an alternative model of childhood writings as a form of play. Juliet McMaster, the Press’s...