Growing Out: Atemporal Figurations of Childhood in Literature and Theory

Figurations of the child frequently establish and rely upon a linear conception of time. This article is a response to the problematic linearity of teleological developmentalism through a discussion of non-linear theoretical and fictional approaches to the figuration of the child. The author discusses some of the issues that have been raised with linear developmental models and joins a growing chorus of childhood studies and early education scholars by working against the constrictions of linear time. This article conceptualizes non-linear models of time and development, through exploration of Michael Ende’s Momo, a young adult novel that theorizes non-linear time, and Charlie Mackesy’s The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, a contemporary best-seller that defies age categorization and invites non-linear material interaction (i.e., defying the determined action of reading from front to back and left to right). This article introduces and exemplifies the concept of “atemporal presence” to define the timeless present moment from which Momo’s titular character operates, and it offers the idea of “growing out” as an alternative to notions of “growing up.” This author illustrates how establishing non-linear conceptions of time and development creates sites for free, non-hierarchical growth.