The Subversion and Reshaping of Adult Image

in Children’s Fantasy Literature

-- A Case Study of Roald Dahl’s Works

By Li Qian

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement

For the B.A. Degree

Department of English

School of Languages and Cultures

Nanjing University of Information Science amp; Technology

May, 2016The Subversion and Reshaping of Adult Image in Children’s Fantasy Literature

-- A Case Study of Roald Dahl’s Works

Li Qian

Department of English

School of Languages and Cultures

Nanjing University of Information Science amp; Technology

Abstract: Children’s fantasy literature is an important part of children’s literature in the world, which has gained great favors from different ages of readers because of its imagination and creation. Plenty of impressive figures are shaped in children’s fantasy literature; in particular, the subversion and reshaping of adult images draw a lot of attention.

The main purpose of this paper is to analyze two totally opposite adult images in texts from Roald Dahl, a well-known English writer, to explore author’s purposes of presenting the conflicts between good and evil, to find out artistic effects and significances of such a kind of antagonism. Besides, to study how author’s childhood experience affects his literary creations, so that we can realize writers’ revelation and criticism toward adults’ autarchy, as well as respect and defend children’s rights. In the meantime, the subversion and reshaping of adult images also provide a new orientation for the fantasy literary creation.

Key words: fantasy, children’s literature, adult images, Roald Dahl

摘要：儿童幻想文学是世界儿童文学的重要组成部分，以其丰富的想象力和创造力赢得了不同年龄段读者的喜爱。儿童幻想文学中塑造了大量令人印象深刻的人物形象，尤以成人形象的颠覆和重塑引人关注。

本文通过分析英国著名作家罗尔德·达尔的幻想儿童作品中截然相反的两类成人形象，窥视善恶对立背后暗含的作者意图，以及这种对立带来的艺术效果和影响。以及作者早年的经历是如何影响文学创作，从而体会作者对成人专制的揭露和批判，对儿童地位的尊重和捍卫。同时也为幻想儿童文学的创作提供新的视野。

关键词：幻想；儿童文学；成人形象；罗尔德·达尔

Contents

1. Introduction 1

1.1 The characters of children’s fantasy literature 1

1.2 Research purposes 2

2. Literature review 3

2.1 Abroad research on children’s fantasy literature 3

2.2 Domestic research on characters of children’s fantasy literature 3

3. The adult images of Roald Dahl’s works 4

3.1 The subversion of adult images 5

3.1.1 The evil witches 5

3.1.2 Irresponsible parents 6

3.1.3 The cruelty headmistress 7

3.2 From subversion to reshaping 8

3.3 The reshaping of adult images 8

3.3.1 The moral giant 9

3.3.2 The responsible father 9

3.3.3 The creative genius 10

4. The comparisons and significances of opposite adult images in Dahl’s works 11

4.1 Imaginary characters 11

4.2 Parental characters 12

4.3 Authoritarian characters 12

5. Conclusion 13

References 15

Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………..........16

1. Introduction

Children’s fantasy literature first flourished in the Victorian age, and gained its popularity among young readers because of the unique imagination and adventurous plots. However, there is no single or wide definition of fantasy literature. “It’s a general genre of literature with nonrepresentational features in a broad sense”. (Wu, 2006: 12). Fantasy for the most parts refers to a story or situation that someone creates by their imagination and that is not based on reality. While in the literary context, fantasy is a genre of literature. And it’s often seen in texts that are written for children. Zhang Ju summarizes some factors of fantasy literature: it manifests a supernatural world and portrays it in a fictional way; besides, the two-dimensional feature of fantasy literature makes itself more complex than fairy tales. (Zhang, 2004: 4)

1.1 The characters of children’s fantasy literature

There is no doubt that little boys or girls are the protagonists in children’s fantasy literature, normally, they are clever, brave, and warm-hearted. They go through adventurous trips and overcome difficulties. Finally, they accomplish splendid goals and become a better person. However, we can’t ignore the function of adult images. During the growth of children, parents, teachers and other adults play important roles, so does in the children’s literature. Typically, there are two types of adult images in children’s fantasy literature, the good sides that care and protect children, providing them with good food and safe places; while the evil sides that invariably make obstacles against children (Wang, 2014: 90). Adult images not only reflect the wish-fulfillment fantasy of children, but also they are mirrors of evolution of views on children with the development of modern society. And the adult figures will be further analyzed in the following passages with the cases of Roald Dahl’s works.

Traditionally, there are two types of literary figures: the categorical images and typical images (in the narrow sense). Most characters in children’s literature are categorical images, and some people state that this kind of figure is the main reason that makes children’s literature lack depths and insights. However, “The categorical images perfectly adapt to the cognitive and comprehensive ability of children” (Wang, 2010: 51)

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