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E-book Chasing Mythical Beasts : The Reception of Ancient Monsters in Children’s and Young Adults’ Culture

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Penilaian

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The fictional storyteller’s account of the spontaneous generation of authentic myths naturally suitable for children is set alongside the real author’s account of a process of deliberate revision, formulated through rhetorical questions and characterized through metaphors. The myths have to be “purified” through the suppression – which Bright describes as an automatic falling away – of “objec-tionable characteristics”. What remains after this purification has to be made more cheerful through the addition of “sunshine” and also more playful, so that it corresponds to “children’s playthings”. Hawthorne here sets an agenda that shaped the subsequent tradition of myth for children, with its many strategies for evading or suppressing material viewed as inappropriate and its many ways of making the myths both sunnier and more playful. Hawthorne’s fictional dialogue between himself and Eustace Bright makes explicit the division that is more often tacitly assumed between the perspective of the adult storyteller, well aware of the human capacity for error and transgres-sion depicted in the original myths, most markedly in the genre of tragedy, and the presumed innocence of his child audience. This adult knowledge is shared even by Hawthorne’s youthful surrogate. The aptly named Bright is able to enter into the mentality of his child audience to “put his imagination in sympathy with the innocent little circle”, but to do so he has to stop thinking about things that he knows, that are present in his mind: “the objectionable characteristics [...] are thought of no more” (emphasis added). Darker thoughts lurk even in the pure and happy outlook preserved by children, although those thoughts remain in the background, downplayed as “mere shadows” that counter a too-sunny picture or as “prophetic dreams”. Immediately after quoting Eustace’s protestations, Hawthorne gives himself the final word, adding his opinion that Bright will soon become less sunny in his outlook: let the youthful author talk, as much and as extravagantly as he pleased, and was glad to see him commencing life with such confidence in himself and his perfor-mances. A few years will do all that is necessary towards showing him the truth, in both respects. (1982, 1310). As several critics have pointed out, that process already colors the tales that follow, where the voice of the narrator is often closer to the older, less illusioned Hawthorne than to the optimistic Bright (Baym 1973; Laffrado 1992, 66–131). Through this narrative voice, Hawthorne self-consciously tempers his entertain-ing, wonder-inspiring, child-friendly versions of the myths with intimations of an adult outlook that acknowledges those versions as purposeful revisions, admitting to his adult readers what they already know, and at the same time par-ticipating in a common – some would say universal – project of children’s litera-ture, showing his child readers some of that adult truth that they, like Eustace Bright, will eventually have to recognize.

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Ketersediaan

Informasi Detail

Judul Seri

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No. Panggil

398.2 AXE c

Penerbit

Heidelberg : Universitätsverlag Winter., 2020

Deskripsi Fisik

646 hlm

Bahasa

English

ISBN/ISSN

9783825369958

Klasifikasi

398.2

Tipe Isi

text

Tipe Media

computer

Tipe Pembawa

online resource

Edisi

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Subjek

Folk Literature, Fairy Tales, Myth, Mythology

Info Detail Spesifik

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Pernyataan Tanggungjawab

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Versi lain/terkait

Lampiran Berkas

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