Gender plays an important role in Jewish faith and culture, and there is a large body of studies on gender roles in Judaism and Jewish adult literature. Nevertheless, scholarship on Jewish children's literature has not systematically addressed this issue. Even though some studies have discussed the role of gender in selected works of children’s literature (cf. Cole 1994, Lezzi 2008, Sigalow/Fox 2014), comprehensive and interconnected research in this field is still missing.
This conference seeks to close this gap by focusing on a broad spectrum of gender-related aspects in Jewish children's literature from a multilayered perspective, addressing literature from different cultures, eras, and different religious movements.
Jewish tradition takes on a complicated position on gender, sex, and sexuality. On the one hand, ritual and tradition are centered on a strict division of gender spheres, with differing roles assigned to women and men, respectively. On the other hand, Torah and Talmud offer a multifaceted vision of gender, including female and male figures deviating from gender norms and Talmudic discussions hinging on questions of gender identity that deviate from binary gender constructions.
Historically, changing notions of gender have also been reflected by literary developments. For example, with the beginning of the Haskalah in Germany, salonnières and writers like Henriette Herz, Rahel Varnhagen von Ense, and Fanny Lewald played a vital role in establishing a social and literary discourse on (gender) equality and faith. Over the course of the 19th century, a body of literature for girls emerged that presented various perspectives on girls’ coming of age (Ratgeberliteratur). It was not until the beginning of the 20th century that narrative-based, orthodox girls’ literature appeared (e.g., Ein Jahr aus Ruths Leben, 1906), in which Jewish traditions were combined with narratives from non-Jewish girls’ literature. At this time, the literature of Jewish youth movements as well as those texts written by Jewish pedagogues such as Siegfried Abeles mirror the diversification of gender roles, e.g., in the “sports fairy tale” or early Zionist publications (Blau-Weiß-Blätter; Arbeiterinnen erzählen, 1935). In early 20th-century literature, Sydney Taylor’s classic All-of-a-Kind-Family raises questions about gender equality and changes in Jewish-American society, while in the 1970s Judy Blume’s novels on female adolescence have addressed questions of identity, coming of age, and sexuality. Contemporary Jewish children’s literature mirrors both the wider social discourse on gender roles and specifically Jewish responses to these debates, e.g., about re-readings of traditional texts (Leah Rachel Berkowitz: Queen Vashti’s Comfy Pants, 2021), queerness (Deke Moulton: Benji Zeb is a Ravenous Werewolf, 2024), trans identities, or new strands of feminism.
The conference seeks to address the multifaceted history of gender in children’s literature from a transnational perspective.
We encourage submissions for topics such as but not limited to:
- constructions of gender in children’s literature and media: femininity, masculinity, and beyond
- rites of passage and the construction of gender roles
- religious tradition, practices, and writings relating to gender
- children’s literature by different religious movements (Orthodox, Reform, Conservative)
- feminism and queer identities in children’s media
- sex and sexuality in fiction
- historical developments and gender: Jewish emancipation, Kibbutz movement, andZionism
- the role of gender in the literary system: female Jewish authors and marginalized voices
- gender in Yiddish and Ladino youth literature
- antisemitism, misogyny, and hypermasculinity
Paper proposals (300 words max.) in English and a short biographical note should be sent as two separate attached Word documents by June 30, 2026, to:
Dr. Hadassah Stichnothe (Free University Berlin)
and
Dr. Jana Mikota (University of Siegen)
This conference is organized by the network “International Research on Jewish Children’s Literature”.
[Quelle: Pressemitteilung]