Link conference report

Wonder has been popularly looked upon as an experience especially prominent in children because both wonder and childhood are viewed to encapsulate moments of ‹seeing for the first time› and the beginning of a process of acquiring knowledge. The concept of the ‹wonder­ing child›, however, is not an anthropological given, but a figure emerging from the conver­gence of literary, epistemological and educational discourses since the 18th century. This inter­disciplinary workshop will direct its attention to the historical construction of the figure of the ‹wondering child› and the assumptions, concepts, cultural values, and social hierarchies it im­plies. Which connections and transfers between literary and educational discourses are histo­rically discernible in regard to the ‹wondering child›? Which role does wonder play in the ‹in­vention of childhood› since the 16th century (Ariès 1975)? What are the implications of the figure of the ‹wondering child› in philosophy, psychology, and educational thought? In which ways does the figure of the ‹wondering child› bring about certain social, political, and educa­tional practices?