Seriously Playful is a collection of essays reflecting the interdiscursive nature of children's literary criticism. Originally presented as papers at the 5th Australasian Children's Literature Association for Research Conference (Brisbane, 2001), the essays draw upon a range of critical theories, including theories of performativity and performance; linguistics; gender studies; literary studies; semiotics and art criticism; postcolonial theory; queer theory and film aesthetics. The contributors interpret the theme through a remarkable performance across a diversity of children's texts and genres: poem, song, novel, picture book, computer games, and film. Using sub-sections Words and Pictures; Gender and Race; Space and Time; Fun and Games, the end result is a seriously playful approach to textual analysis which is both stimulating and entertaining.
