90847 - History and Culture of Childhood

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course student is expected to acquire: 1. Main international themes of discussion in the debate about cultures of childhood and on educational models and patterns. 2. History of childhood, through the lens of cultural representations, research about the concept of childhood, practices and discussion about neoteny (human characteristic of childhood maintenance). 3. Finding your way in the network of stories, representations, images of childhood and becoming able to produce original critical paths thorough a wide range of themes of the collective imagination, life and knowledge: sport, fashion, health, travel. 4. Contemporary international children publishing and its design and thematical possibilities, with regards for themes quoted at the point 3 and for visual literature, picture books and silent books.

Course contents

The course offers an exploration of fashion and dress through an international selection of picturebooks drawn from children's publishing.

The visual and concise language of the picturebook engages in dialogue with fashion editorials, catalogue formats, fashion illustrations, and garment design. Narrative inventions intersect with forms of dress, creating connections between fashion history, storytelling, creativity, and visual language.

The teaching programme is based on the comparison and discussion of a wide range of materials: an international collection of picturebooks selected from children's publishing; historical and critical contributions on topics such as the history of textiles and thread, graphic motifs such as stripes, and reflections on the historical and pedagogical relationships between fashion and childhood. The course examines illustrated biographies of fashion and style icons—from Coco Chanel to Pippi Longstocking, from Audrey Hepburn to Vivienne Westwood—as well as reinterpretations and outfits inspired by classic fairy tales and children's literature. It also includes popular non-fiction works devoted to the history and grammar of clothing, original visual experiments, exquisitely crafted paper-engineered creations, images generated through embroidery and explorations of texture, colour and form, and works by illustrator-authors-designers who frequently operate across both children's publishing and fashion design.

Students will have the opportunity to encounter, discuss collectively, and study books that both engage children and position childhood within the cultural discourse of fashion. These works provide valuable contributions for stimulating pedagogical, aesthetic, and interdisciplinary reflection, while encouraging a broader understanding of the principal themes of fashion through the lens of the finest international children's publishing.

The core reference text, The Fabulous Wardrobe, highlights the narrative dimension of sartorial invention and considers image and form as transformative languages for both individuals and communities.

Childhood is approached as a primary source of inspiration, as an originating time, a reservoir of memory, and a period characterised by a particular sensory and aesthetic attentiveness—one that continues uninterrupted within the world of artistic creation.

 

Readings/Bibliography

Requested texts:

 

-Marcella Terrusi, Il guardaroba favoloso. Moda e costume nella letteratura per l'infanzia, Carocci, 2025

- Students must consult as many of the illustrated books mentioned as possible. books are available at the Rimini Campus Library. For examination preparation, students are invited to choose at least 5 of them to study in depth according to the suggested monographs.

For more:

in Roberto Farnè, Marcella Terrusi, a cura di. Moda e Infanzia, ZoneModa Journal, Vol. 8 No. 2 (2018): Editoriale; Terrusi, Sola: Atelier Picturebook; Campagnaro: Accessoristica Fiabesca

Clare Hunter, I fili della vita. Una storia del mondo attraverso la cruna dell'ago, Bollati Boringhieri, 2019. Capitoli: Protezione; Legami

Michel Pastoureau, La stoffa del diavolo. Una storia delle righe e dei tessuti rigati, Il Nuovo Melangolo, 2007. Capitolo: Strane zebre.

Nicola Gardini, Le 10 parole latine che raccontano il nostro mondo, Garzanti. Capitolo: Lo stile.

Focus Infanzia e moda, Rivista Infanzia

5 albi a scelta nella bibliografia di riferimento o da concordare con la docente. La bibliografia dei 100 albi illustrati di The Extraordinary Library 2017 e degli altri albi visti a lezione è disponibile in selezione presso la Biblioteca del Campus di Rimini e nelle risorse su Virtuale. Gli studenti possono privilegiare una selezione di 5 albi seguendo il filo di: biografie, icone di stile, favoloso mondo della moda, fiabesco, filo, motivi (righe, pois, motivi culturali).

La storia: Rosita Levi Pisetzki, Il costume e la moda nella società italiana, Einaudi, 1978. Le sezioni dedicate all'abbigliamento infantile.

Gli albi illustrati: Marcella Terrusi, Meraviglie mute. Silent book e letteratura per l’infanzia, Carocci, 2017 - una selezione di 3 capitoli. Esempio: L'arte del libro senza parole; Visibile, invisibile: artemie, palloncini e memoria; Metamorfosi: sogno, viaggio, impermanenza e amore; Piccolo e grande poetico.

/ Marcella Terrusi, Albi illustrati. Leggere, guardare, nominare il mondo nei libri per l’infanzia, Carocci, 2012 - una selezione di paragrafi legati alla struttura e al linguaggio degli albi.

Il mondo della moda bambino: Flavia Piccinni, Bellissime. Baby miss e aspiranti lolite, Fandango, 2017

 

Teaching methods

The course includes lectures set up mostly in a dialogical manner, in which they collectively read and discuss illustrated books from the international selection through direct reading, video projection and attending the thematic shelf in the campus library. Students are also invited to work on their own biography as readers, memories of childhood and clothing, and the construction of the gaze. There is no shortage of pedagogical insights to the history of children's literature, with a focus on images, and the history of children's fashion. Students are encouraged to compile a research journal to explore their own relationship with fashion and clothing from childhood memories, and document the course through notes and collection of images.

Assessment methods

The final exam consists of an interview with the lecturer during which the student demonstrates knowledge of the reference texts and personal elaboration of suggestions from the course.

The student also presents a selection of 5 illustrated albums, to be linked in a personal and critical manner, with constant reference to the texts in the bibliography.

In particular, he/she may submit (not required) a personal diary of the research or the course, in a form of his/her choice, which will serve as a pretext for discussion of the learnings and reflections arising from the course and the referenced critical bibliography.

The student will be expected to have a thorough knowledge of the key texts in the bibliography.

Students with specific learning difficulties (SpLDs) or temporary or permanent disabilities are strongly advised to contact the relevant University office well in advance:

https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/it

The office will be responsible for proposing any appropriate reasonable adjustments for the students concerned. Such adjustments must, however, be submitted to the module convenor for approval at least 15 days in advance. The module convenor will assess their suitability, taking into account the intended learning outcomes of the module.

With regard to the assessment, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) is prohibited. Any use of AI constitutes a breach of academic integrity.

Teaching tools

The international collection of picture books relating to the fashion and style project is can be entirely consulted at the Rimini Campus Library. The teacher also reserves the right to provide study material also available in electronic format.

Office hours

See the website of Marcella Terrusi