Current PhD Students

Megan Woodward

Thesis Title

Children and Childhood in Contemporary British Dystopian Fiction, 1992-2021

Supervisor

Dr Bryan Radley

Description

Centuries of philosophical discourse on childhood has created the figure of 'the Child', a cultural artefact that represents innocence, idealism, and the future. The pervasive artistic and political significance of 'the Child' relies upon the innocence and promise associated with real children, but the rhetoric which has long attempted to define and understand childhood has increasingly separated 'the Child' from children themselves. My research explores the representation of this contested politico-aesthetic figure in the dystopian works of P.D James, Ian McEwan, and Kazuo Ishiguro, all of whom are deeply critical of the symbolic value attached to 'the Child'. My chosen texts employ concepts of infertility, cloning, artificial intelligence, and climate crisis to expose the threat posed by the dichotomy between 'the Child' and real children, with the former firmly occupying the centre of political discourse, leaving the latter precariously in its shadow.

My PhD builds on my MA research project, which examined representations of childhood in McEwan's fiction. This project investigated lost, misrepresented, and forgotten children, the inner child, and young people coming-of-age, all of whom are denied the ability to exist authentically in the presence of 'the Child'. I completed a BA in English Literature and MA in English Literature with Distinction (ranked first in a cohort of 33) at the University of Leeds.