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(De)monstration: Interpreting the monsters of English children's literature. / Jonathan Padley

Swansea University Author: Jonathan Padley

DOI (Published version): 10.23889/SUthesis.42979

Abstract

This thesis is intended to document and explain the peculiarly high incidence of monsters in English children’s literature, where monsters are understood in the term’s full etymological sense as things which demonstrate through disturbance. In this context, monsters are frequently young people thems...

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Published: 2006
Institution: Swansea University
Degree level: Doctoral
Degree name: Ph.D
URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa42979
first_indexed 2018-08-02T18:56:00Z
last_indexed 2021-07-27T03:00:27Z
id cronfa42979
recordtype RisThesis
fullrecord <?xml version="1.0"?><rfc1807><datestamp>2021-07-26T14:33:52.2022226</datestamp><bib-version>v2</bib-version><id>42979</id><entry>2018-08-02</entry><title>(De)monstration: Interpreting the monsters of English children's literature.</title><swanseaauthors><author><sid>c85f609a3a5482491f0cd0058571a1a2</sid><ORCID>NULL</ORCID><firstname>Jonathan</firstname><surname>Padley</surname><name>Jonathan Padley</name><active>true</active><ethesisStudent>true</ethesisStudent></author></swanseaauthors><date>2018-08-02</date><abstract>This thesis is intended to document and explain the peculiarly high incidence of monsters in English children&#x2019;s literature, where monsters are understood in the term&#x2019;s full etymological sense as things which demonstrate through disturbance. In this context, monsters are frequently young people themselves; the youthful protagonists of children&#x2019;s literature. Their demonstrative operation typically functions not only as an overt or covert tool by which to educate children&#x2019;s literature&#x2019;s implied child audience, but also as a wider indicator -demonstrator - of adult appreciations of and arguments over children and how children should be permitted to grow. In this latter role especially, children are rendered truly monstrous as alienated and problematic tokens in adult cultural arguments. They can fast become such efficient demonstrators of adult crises that their very presence engenders all the notions of unacceptability with which monsters are characteristically associated. The chronological range of this thesis&#x2019; study is the eighteenth-century to the present. From this period, the following children&#x2019;s authors, children&#x2019;s books, and series of children&#x2019;s books have been examined in detail: &#x2022; Thomas Day: Sandford and Merton &#x2022; Anna Laetitia Barbauld: Lessons for Children and Hymns in Prose for Children &#x2022; Sarah Trimmer: Fabulous Histories &#x2022; Mary Martha Sherwood: The Fairchild Family &#x2022; Charles Kingsley: The Water-Babies &#x2022; Lewis Carroll: Alice&#x2019;s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass &#x2022; George MacDonald: At the Back of the North Wind &#x2022; J.M. Barrie: Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, Peter Pan, and Peter and Wendy &#x2022; C.S. Lewis: The Chronicles of Narnia (The Lion, the Witch &amp; the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and The Last Battle) &#x2022; J.K. Rowling: Harry Potter (The Philosopher&#x2019;s Stone, The Chamber of Secrets, The Prisoner of Azkaban, The Goblet of Fire, The Order of the Phoenix, and The HalfBlood Prince). The theoretical notions of monsters and monstrosity that are used to discuss these texts draw principally on the writings on the sublime by Edmund Burke and Immanuel Kant, the uncanny by Sigmund Freud, and the fantastic by Tzvetan Todorov.</abstract><type>E-Thesis</type><journal/><volume/><journalNumber/><paginationStart/><paginationEnd/><publisher/><placeOfPublication/><isbnPrint/><isbnElectronic/><issnPrint/><issnElectronic/><keywords>Children, literature</keywords><publishedDay>31</publishedDay><publishedMonth>12</publishedMonth><publishedYear>2006</publishedYear><publishedDate>2006-12-31</publishedDate><doi>10.23889/SUthesis.42979</doi><url/><notes/><college>COLLEGE NANME</college><department>English Language and Applied Linguistics</department><CollegeCode>COLLEGE CODE</CollegeCode><institution>Swansea University</institution><degreelevel>Doctoral</degreelevel><degreename>Ph.D</degreename><apcterm/><lastEdited>2021-07-26T14:33:52.2022226</lastEdited><Created>2018-08-02T16:24:30.9602049</Created><path><level id="1">Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences</level><level id="2">School of Culture and Communication - English Language, Tesol, Applied Linguistics</level></path><authors><author><firstname>Jonathan</firstname><surname>Padley</surname><orcid>NULL</orcid><order>1</order></author></authors><documents><document><filename>0042979-02082018162537.pdf</filename><originalFilename>10821369.pdf</originalFilename><uploaded>2018-08-02T16:25:37.0570000</uploaded><type>Output</type><contentLength>9827010</contentLength><contentType>application/pdf</contentType><version>E-Thesis</version><cronfaStatus>true</cronfaStatus><embargoDate>2018-08-02T00:00:00.0000000</embargoDate><documentNotes>Copyright: The author, Jonathan Padley, 2006.</documentNotes><copyrightCorrect>true</copyrightCorrect><language>eng</language></document></documents><OutputDurs/></rfc1807>
spelling 2021-07-26T14:33:52.2022226 v2 42979 2018-08-02 (De)monstration: Interpreting the monsters of English children's literature. c85f609a3a5482491f0cd0058571a1a2 NULL Jonathan Padley Jonathan Padley true true 2018-08-02 This thesis is intended to document and explain the peculiarly high incidence of monsters in English children’s literature, where monsters are understood in the term’s full etymological sense as things which demonstrate through disturbance. In this context, monsters are frequently young people themselves; the youthful protagonists of children’s literature. Their demonstrative operation typically functions not only as an overt or covert tool by which to educate children’s literature’s implied child audience, but also as a wider indicator -demonstrator - of adult appreciations of and arguments over children and how children should be permitted to grow. In this latter role especially, children are rendered truly monstrous as alienated and problematic tokens in adult cultural arguments. They can fast become such efficient demonstrators of adult crises that their very presence engenders all the notions of unacceptability with which monsters are characteristically associated. The chronological range of this thesis’ study is the eighteenth-century to the present. From this period, the following children’s authors, children’s books, and series of children’s books have been examined in detail: • Thomas Day: Sandford and Merton • Anna Laetitia Barbauld: Lessons for Children and Hymns in Prose for Children • Sarah Trimmer: Fabulous Histories • Mary Martha Sherwood: The Fairchild Family • Charles Kingsley: The Water-Babies • Lewis Carroll: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass • George MacDonald: At the Back of the North Wind • J.M. Barrie: Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, Peter Pan, and Peter and Wendy • C.S. Lewis: The Chronicles of Narnia (The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and The Last Battle) • J.K. Rowling: Harry Potter (The Philosopher’s Stone, The Chamber of Secrets, The Prisoner of Azkaban, The Goblet of Fire, The Order of the Phoenix, and The HalfBlood Prince). The theoretical notions of monsters and monstrosity that are used to discuss these texts draw principally on the writings on the sublime by Edmund Burke and Immanuel Kant, the uncanny by Sigmund Freud, and the fantastic by Tzvetan Todorov. E-Thesis Children, literature 31 12 2006 2006-12-31 10.23889/SUthesis.42979 COLLEGE NANME English Language and Applied Linguistics COLLEGE CODE Swansea University Doctoral Ph.D 2021-07-26T14:33:52.2022226 2018-08-02T16:24:30.9602049 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences School of Culture and Communication - English Language, Tesol, Applied Linguistics Jonathan Padley NULL 1 0042979-02082018162537.pdf 10821369.pdf 2018-08-02T16:25:37.0570000 Output 9827010 application/pdf E-Thesis true 2018-08-02T00:00:00.0000000 Copyright: The author, Jonathan Padley, 2006. true eng
title (De)monstration: Interpreting the monsters of English children's literature.
spellingShingle (De)monstration: Interpreting the monsters of English children's literature.
Jonathan Padley
title_short (De)monstration: Interpreting the monsters of English children's literature.
title_full (De)monstration: Interpreting the monsters of English children's literature.
title_fullStr (De)monstration: Interpreting the monsters of English children's literature.
title_full_unstemmed (De)monstration: Interpreting the monsters of English children's literature.
title_sort (De)monstration: Interpreting the monsters of English children's literature.
author_id_str_mv c85f609a3a5482491f0cd0058571a1a2
author_id_fullname_str_mv c85f609a3a5482491f0cd0058571a1a2_***_Jonathan Padley
author Jonathan Padley
author2 Jonathan Padley
format E-Thesis
publishDate 2006
institution Swansea University
doi_str_mv 10.23889/SUthesis.42979
college_str Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
department_str School of Culture and Communication - English Language, Tesol, Applied Linguistics{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Culture and Communication - English Language, Tesol, Applied Linguistics
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description This thesis is intended to document and explain the peculiarly high incidence of monsters in English children’s literature, where monsters are understood in the term’s full etymological sense as things which demonstrate through disturbance. In this context, monsters are frequently young people themselves; the youthful protagonists of children’s literature. Their demonstrative operation typically functions not only as an overt or covert tool by which to educate children’s literature’s implied child audience, but also as a wider indicator -demonstrator - of adult appreciations of and arguments over children and how children should be permitted to grow. In this latter role especially, children are rendered truly monstrous as alienated and problematic tokens in adult cultural arguments. They can fast become such efficient demonstrators of adult crises that their very presence engenders all the notions of unacceptability with which monsters are characteristically associated. The chronological range of this thesis’ study is the eighteenth-century to the present. From this period, the following children’s authors, children’s books, and series of children’s books have been examined in detail: • Thomas Day: Sandford and Merton • Anna Laetitia Barbauld: Lessons for Children and Hymns in Prose for Children • Sarah Trimmer: Fabulous Histories • Mary Martha Sherwood: The Fairchild Family • Charles Kingsley: The Water-Babies • Lewis Carroll: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass • George MacDonald: At the Back of the North Wind • J.M. Barrie: Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, Peter Pan, and Peter and Wendy • C.S. Lewis: The Chronicles of Narnia (The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and The Last Battle) • J.K. Rowling: Harry Potter (The Philosopher’s Stone, The Chamber of Secrets, The Prisoner of Azkaban, The Goblet of Fire, The Order of the Phoenix, and The HalfBlood Prince). The theoretical notions of monsters and monstrosity that are used to discuss these texts draw principally on the writings on the sublime by Edmund Burke and Immanuel Kant, the uncanny by Sigmund Freud, and the fantastic by Tzvetan Todorov.
published_date 2006-12-31T04:25:25Z
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score 11.089572

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