Contemporary children’s literature functions as a mirror to the real life struggles that modern children are increasingly threatened with. Among the authors who address these issues in their works, Jacqueline Wilson has received numerous accolades for highlighting the challenges children face. While research involving her repertoire of books is growing, much can still be said about how her child characters endeavour to manoeuvre the hardships encountered. One such novel, Dustbin Baby, narrates how 14-year-old April traces back her origins from being rescued from the garbage bin as a newborn baby to being passed around in orphanages, children’s homes and foster parents. Through the transitions, the protagonist experienced abandonment, emotional and physical abuses, being coerced into committing crimes and even witnessed a suicide. These incidents have led her to display signs of complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD). Yet in this one-day adventure of backtracking her childhood, April learns to accept her past while reconciling with her present as she navigates her future directions. The reading of the text is illuminated through the application of psychologist Albert Bandura’s concept of self-efficacy. The analysis focuses on how April’s sense of self-efficacy is enhanced through four sources of efficacy information which are enactive mastery experience, vicarious experience, verbal persuasion, and physiological and affective states. In acknowledging the long-term effects of childhood trauma which carry detrimental repercussions into adulthood, the study into Wilson’s selected text is significant in showcasing how the protagonist gains agency and empowerment through and despite the ordeals endured.

Authors:
Florence Toh Haw Ching, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia

About the Presenter(s)
Dr. Florence Toh Haw Ching is currently a Senior Lecturer with the Department of English, Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication, Universiti Putra Malaysia. Her research interest is in interdisciplinary studies in literature

Connect on Linkedin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/florence-toh-371976166/

Additional website of interest
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0991-4944

See this presentation on the full schedule – Saturday Schedule

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