@misc{10481/74873,
year = {2020},
month = {12},
url = {http://hdl.handle.net/10481/74873},
abstract = {The child prodigy phenomenon expanded during and after the mid-19th century,
nurtured by a growing entertainment industry in Europe. Prodigies were particularly popular
in two domains —classical music and mental calculation. Many spent their early childhoods
on tour and living abroad. This paper analyzes the problem of the general education of the
child prodigy, and the parents’ and impresarios’ role in financially exploiting the child’s talent. I
focus on virtuosos and arithmetic wonders who performed in France in the 19th century. These
children rarely received regular schooling and many only learned to read and write once their
years of glory as a prodigy passed, or when their lack of education became problematic. The
consequences of neglecting the prodigy’s elementary studies were greater than parents and
impresarios had anticipated. Illiteracy and a meager knowledge of the wider culture affected
talent development. In the end, a lack of general education contributed to the deterioration
of the child’s giftedness, accelerating the transition from prodigy to ordinary.},
organization = {European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and
innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement no. 793654},
publisher = {Universidad de Granada},
keywords = {Virtuosos},
keywords = {Calculating prodigies},
keywords = {Elementary education},
keywords = {talent},
keywords = {childrearing},
title = {Extreme giftedness? Trading on the general education of child prodigies in the nineteenth century},
doi = {10.30827/dynamis.v40i2.17970},
author = {Graus, Andrea},
}