Distribution Agreement In presenting this thesis or dissertation as a partial fulfillment of the requirements for an advanced degree from Emory University, I hereby grant to Emory University and its agents the non-exclusive license to archive, make accessible, and display my thesis or dissertation in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known, including display on the world wide web. I understand that I may select some access restrictions as part of the online submission of this thesis or dissertation. I retain all ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis or dissertation. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis or dissertation. Signature: _____________________________ ______________ Megan E. Friddle Date Longing for Longing: Girlhood, Narrative, and Nostalgia in American Literature for Children and Young Adults By Megan E. Friddle Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Institute of the Liberal Arts _________________________________________ Catherine R. Nickerson, Ph.D. Advisor _________________________________________ Angelika Bammer, Ph.D. Committee Member _________________________________________ Kevin Corrigan, Ph.D. Committee Member _________________________________________ Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, Ph.D. Committee Member Accepted: _________________________________________ Lisa A. Tedesco, Ph.D. Dean of the James T. Laney School of Graduate Studies ___________________ Date Longing for Longing: Girlhood, Narrative, and Nostalgia in American Literature for Children and Young Adults By Megan E. Friddle B.A., Sarah Lawrence College, 2002 M.F.A., The Pennsylvania State University, 2008 M.A., Emory University, 2012 Advisor: Catherine R. Nickerson, Ph.D. An abstract of A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the James T. Laney School of Graduate Studies of Emory University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate Institute of the Liberal Arts 2014 Abstract Longing for Longing: Girlhood, Narrative, and Nostalgia in American Literature for Children and Young Adults By Megan E. Friddle Girls’ books—including Little Women, Maud Hart Lovelace’s Betsy-Tacy series, the novels of Judy Blume, and beyond—are an underused resource for information about the experience of girlhood in American culture. These books offer a wealth of details about the changing parameters of what it means to be a girl, a woman, and an individual with a self-narrative. Through analysis of fictional and autobiographical texts—as well as archival documents, travel narratives, and museum spaces and promotional materials—this study investigates the shifting terrain of girlhood in the US and the role of memory and nostalgia in linking experiences of girlhood across time and space. Focusing primarily on fictional texts from the 1860s onward, the reception of these texts among critics and readers, and the fan clubs, societies, and online groups that connect their readers, “Longing for Longing” places the texts and related supplemental materials in a transhistorical conversation about memory and identity, desire and loss. At stake in this project is the centrality of narrative texts, specifically novels, in the processes of self-making and negotiating relations between individuals. This study identifies several specific figures from classic books for girls, including the “Girl,” the Diarist, the Patient, and the Tourist. These figures and their stories provide girls with the vocabulary to narrate experiences of physical and emotional pain as well as longing, pleasure, and loss. “Longing for Longing” traces the ways in which these figures and narratives persist, often in unexpected ways, in contemporary Young Adult (YA) novels, and argues for the necessity of historicizing contemporary YA novels in the context of earlier books for girls. Neither overtly subversive nor wholly conventional, the texts themselves offer complex readings of childhood, the passage to adulthood, and the available options for being in the world, all inflected by the larger historical and cultural concerns surrounding the period of each text’s genesis and publication. This study illuminates the ways in which books for girls both adopt and interrogate discourses surrounding the physical and mental maturation of young women, and reflect larger cultural anxieties surrounding issues of girls’ innocence, sexualization, and gender expression. Longing for Longing: Girlhood, Narrative, and Nostalgia in American Literature for Children and Young Adults By Megan E. Friddle B.A., Sarah Lawrence College, 2002 M.F.A., The Pennsylvania State University, 2008 M.A., Emory University, 2012 A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the James T. Laney School of Graduate Studies of Emory University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate Institute of the Liberal Arts 2014 Acknowledgements This dissertation would not have come into being without my advisor and chair, Kate Nickerson, who has been a steadfast supporter of me and my project for the past six years. Thank you to my committee members, Angelika Bammer, Kevin Corrigan, and Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, for pushing me to look at the world in new ways, and for encouraging me to be precise, yet not unnecessarily harsh, as I made my way through sometimes- treacherous interdisciplinary waters. Thank you to my colleagues and supervisors in Emory’s Office for Undergraduate Education, whose interest and encouragement have kept me motivated during the past year. The Laney Graduate School took a risk in allowing me to work full time while being enrolled full time as a PhD candidate; I have appreciated the opportunity to rise to the occasion. I completed much of the early writing and thinking for this project in the extraordinary graduate seminars I took in my home department—the ILA—and the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Department at Emory. I am particularly indebted to professors Lynne Huffer and Elizabeth Wilson, and to the ILA and WGSS grad students who welcomed me at their seminar tables. To my writing group(s)—Anson Koch-Rein, Jen Sarrett, Aimi Hamraie, and David Pena-Guzman—thank you for keeping me accountable and always tempering your criticism with enthusiasm. There are three professors whose pedagogy and disciplinary engagements had a profound effect on my early development as a student. As an undergraduate at Sarah Lawrence College, I first discovered American Studies and gender theory through a course taught by Molly McGarry called “Architectures of Desire.” The readings and materials we covered in that course remained foundational to my subsequent academic career. My SLC experience was also deeply enriched by my ongoing work with Elfie Raymond at the intersection of poetry, philosophy, and digital media, as well as the many meals and conversations we shared. In my first semester at Penn State, Scott Herring’s “Sexologies” seminar was the first place I was able to approach children’s literature from a scholarly perspective; the work I did in his course provided the genesis and inspiration for this project. To my friends and family—thank you for your care, your understanding, and your commitment to keeping me well fed. This project would not have been possible without your love. To my parents especially, thank you for all the spring break trips to museums and national parks, for allowing me to read my way through dinners, church services, car rides, and bedtimes, and for your unwavering support through all of my academic, creative, and professional undertakings. The travel to archives and conferences that enriched and enabled this work was made possible by Professional Development Support funds from the Laney Graduate School of Emory University and a small grant from the Society for Disability Studies. Thank you for not just believing in my work, but also funding it! My gratitude goes to the curators and librarians in the Children’s Literature Research Collection at the Andersen Library of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, MN. I’m especially grateful for the assistance and support I received from Karen Nelson Hoyle and Meredith Gillies during my trips to the CLRC. Thanks are also due to the staff at the Blue Earth County Historical Society in Mankato, MN. In addition, I would like to recognize the contributions of my subject librarians at Emory’s Woodruff Library, James Steffen and Erica Bruchko, who managed my inquiries for new (and out-of-print) children’s literature scholarship and provided me with unparalleled teaching support. Thank you to Leslie Fears for exceptional feedback in the final hours. Last but not least, I need to recognize the smallest member of my dissertation committee: a green-eyed black cat named Stella who adopted me just before I began writing my dissertation, and who has quietly watched over my shoulder, from the back of my desk chair, as I’ve brought the project to completion. Longing for Longing: Girlhood, Narrative, and Nostalgia in American Literature for Children and Young Adults TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction .......................................................................................................................................1 Chapter 1: The Books: On Genre, Audience, and Culture ...................................................... 19 Chapter 2: Who—and What—Is a “Girl”?: The Tomboy, the Lesbian, and the Transgender Child .....................................................................................................