Crisis of the modern childhood, and new configurations of childhood as a metaphor

Abstract

With special reference to the metaphors of hyper-accomplished childhood and nonaccomplished childhood, developed by Mariano Narodowski, this article discusses the superposition of these two poles of resignification of today´s infancy. More precisely, by observing the description of a kid’s daily life for a recent film production, this analysis points out that, instead of poles among which the configurations of childhood would swing, there are mutual interactions increasingly taking place inside each of the poles. In relation to the non-accomplished childhood, we specifically highlight a broader aspect: A discursive movement, strategically activated, which, by creating narrations of a childhood that has allegedly been excluded from the domain of modern intelligibility, guarantees its access to it. In other words, constructing the loss of childhood implies, at the same time, the attempt of restoring the senses and sentiments that we have long attributed to it.