In this powerful cultural critique, Ariel Dorfman explores the political and social implications of the smiling faces that inhabit familiar books, comics, and magazines. He reveals the ideological messages conveyed in works of popular culture such as the Donald Duck comics, the Babar children’s books, and Reader’s Digest magazine. The Empire’s Old Clothes was widely praised when it was first published in 1983. This edition, including a new preface by the author, makes a contemporary classic newly available.
- Contents
- Preface to the New Edition
- Preface to the First Edition
- 1. Childhood as Underdevelopment
- 2. Of Elephants and Ducks
- 3. The Lone Ranger's Last Ride
- 4. The Infantilization of the Adult Reader
- 5. The Innocents March into History ... and Overthrow a Government
- 6. Conclusion
- Notes
- Acknowledgments