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AN AMERICAN GIRL ANTHOLOGY

AN AMERICAN GIRL ANTHOLOGY

~ CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS ~

By UPM Staff Date: February 13, 2023

NOW ACCEPTING PITCHES

FULL SUBMISSION DEADLINE: SEPTEMBER 1, 2023

CONTACT: Editors Justine Orlovsky-Schnitzler and KC Hysmith

AnAmericanGirlAnthology@gmail.com

This anthology, under contract with the University Press of Mississippi, hopes to turn American Girl dolls – and the ever-growing ecosystem surrounding them – inside out. We intend to explore the Pleasant Company (American Girl’s parent corporation), nostalgia, and the social and cultural impact the dolls and broader American Girl universe continue to have for generations of American consumers through thoughtful essays from contributors across multiple disciplines and with different research areas.

This collection has several objectives. It serves as an ode to the democratizing power of the internet and the intoxicating power of nostalgia, while also looking toward the future as many American Girl fans become parents themselves. It is a critical account of the ways in which American Girl has shaped senses of self-worth and hopes for the future, securing a base of lifelong consumers, but also a love letter to the kids we collectively used to be. Along the way, we hope readers will seriously consider American Girl’s influence and place within larger cultural conversations. They will find essays focusing on topics as diverse as food and historical recipes in American Girl publications, the advent of “tag yourself” memes, the struggle to find authentic and long-lasting Asian-American representation within the pages of the American Girl catalog, and the enduring power of The Care and Keeping of You as a resource. While the contributions we hope to solicit will be decidedly academic in nature, the volume aims to be accessible to a broad range of interested readers.

Areas of interest for this anthology include, but are not limited to, the following topics:

  • The original lineup, revisited
  • AGD Party Culture
  • “Girl of the Year” and the pitfalls of keeping pace with the times
  • AGD Stores (consumerism/consumption)
  • AGD, gender, and sexualities
  • Material Culture
  • Public-facing history and education

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