Ouachita Stories

Dr. Amy Sonheim, Ouachita Baptist University professor of English, was recently invited to attend the University of Philadelphia’s symposium, “The Wise Child: Children’s Literature and Psychoanalysis,” an interdisciplinary conference hosted by the university’s English department and the Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia.

Sonheim was invited to attend due to her related research, “Sendak’s WILD THINGS Get ‘Refanged,’” a psychoanalytic approach to Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are and the recent film adaptation by Spike Jonze.

In her research, Sonheim comes to the conclusion that “the angst-riddled performance of cinematic Max (Max Records) creates a new audience for this childhood fantasy: a teenage audience, as opposed to the original toddler one,” she explains. “Ironically, since this teenage audience was also the toddler audience for the picture book, its experience of watching the movie prompts the film’s psychoanalytic appeal even more than the book did.

“What I found most rewarding through working on this project was uncovering post-modern strategies that offer optimistic gumption, but not hope, in the face of lost innocence,” Sonheim added. “In the end, for cinematic Max and his primarily adolescent audience, I was expecting happiness; instead, I found chutzpah.”

At the symposium, the educators, psychiatrists, analysts and doctors in attendance similarly discussed protagonists from other popular children’s books, such as Neil Gaiman’s Coraline and J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series. According to Sonheim, they explored, in particular, “psychoanalaytic concerns represented in books written for children, to glean wisdom from the young characters in realms of conflict, fear and grief.”

Newberry award winner Lois Lowry, author of Number the Stars and The Giver, was featured as keynote speaker. She highlighted her inspirations and the psychological development of her characters.

Sonheim is slated to teach Ouachita’s Children’s Literature course in the Spring and will be reviewing five senior honors theses relating to children’s literature. She said she is looking forward to bringing new strategies of analysis to her students.

“From the perspective of the children’s book author him or herself, working with memories tends to be highly rewarding and productive,” Sonheim said, “so, I am eager to learn how interpreting these memories might enrich the experiences of the books for their readers, such as those of my students and myself.”

Additionally, “As I listened to doctors and psychiatrists ask difficult questions of children’s books, I deepened my ability to ask better questions,” she said.

For more information, contact Dr. Amy Sonheim at [email protected] or (870) 245-5552.

By Breanne Goodrum