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A History of childhood

As the title of the book exposes, its main goal is to present and describe the changes in the concepts of “children” and “childhood” in the west countries from Medieval to Modern Times, through the analysis of the particular nature of childhood along the ages. The book is structured in three sections and twelve chapters, which address the main characteristics of childhood and their evolution, the discoveries of modernity and the main contributions of the 20th Century, which have set
the bases of new conceptions towards a long childhood and adolescence.
The first section “Changing conceptions of childhood” presents the differences and similarities observed when analyzing artistic, religious and scientific approaches of childhood from the middle ages to the 20th century, as well as the main related discoveries, their causes and consequences. The first chapter “Conceptions of childhood in the middle ages” aims to evidence that, despite the existing tendencies that deny the role of children in the middle ages, the current notion of childhood is rooted in this medieval conception.

Marta Font
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