Conrad, Maren (2020):
"The Quantified Child. Zur Darstellung von Adoleszenz unter den Bedingungen der Digitalisierung in der aktuellen Kinder- und Jugendliteratur." Narrative der Überwachung: Typen, mediale Formen und Entwicklungen. Eds. Hauptmann, Kilian; Hennig, Martin; Krah, Hans. Berlin: Peter Lang. 87-114
Article in Anthology
Abstract

Dataveillance, as part of a technological dystopia within children’s literature is often combined with narratives about adolescence. This paper analyses the depiction of surveillance technology in the life of young adults and children within recent fiction. The two exemplary texts analyzed are the children’s audio drama Die Nanny-App by Angela Gerrits (2018) and the ‘Eleria-Trilogie’ (2012–2014) by Ursula Poznanski. By placing a young adult as narrator and hero/heroine center stage, both texts depict the experience of adolescence as a personal crisis within an educational system under surveillance. The heroines deal with the role of tracking device technology as a paradoxical and powerful weapon, which may serve as an extended element of self-regulation as well as a device of parental and/or governmental control.