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Author
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Comment
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winkingstar
Registered User
(9/22/04 8:32 pm)
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children and animals
Greetings ~
I am an undergraduate student of Comparative Literature in the languages of English and Spanish preparing to write my thesis. The actual writing is next semester, but we are starting our research now. I am having a bit of difficulty with the topic I am interested in, however, as I have found very little criticism on my texts. My advisor has suggested that I look into articles that are tangentially related to my topic, and I was hoping you all could help me with some suggestions.
The topic I am looking at is the role/relationship of animals and
children in Isabel Allende’s La ciudad de las bestias (translated
into English as City
of the Beasts) and Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials
trilogy (probably just the first one, The
Golden Compass/Northern Lights). After extensive searching
in my college’s library catalogue as well as the MLA bibliography,
I have been unable to find any criticism on Allende’s novel, probably
because it is 1) fairly recent (2002) and 2) young adult literature,
which is often undercriticized as I am sure you all know. As for
Pullman’s novels, the criticism I found largely focuses on the religious
aspects of the novels and not the protagonist’s animal companion
(known as a daemon). I wasn’t expecting to find much on my topic
directly relating to the texts I chose, so I am also looking into
possible folkloric influences and any criticism on animals in children’s
and/or young adult literature.
Just to clarify in case you are unfamiliar with the texts, the animals are sort of like animal helpers in fairy tales, but the relationship between the animals and children has more to do with the development of the children’s identities than merely helping them to accomplish their tasks.
Basically what I am trying to ask here is whether or not anyone can suggest any books or articles examining the role of animals in folklore and/or children’s/young adult literature. And if you happen to know of any possibly helpful criticism pertaining directly to either of my texts, that would also be much appreciated.
Sorry this is so long, and if it doesn’t make sense please tell me and I’ll try to clarify. Thank you much,
~winkingstar
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Terri
Windling
Registered User
(9/23/04 2:21 am)
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Re: children and animals
What a great thesis topic. You might want to check out Boria Sax's
work. He's published at least two books that I know of on animals
in folklore, The
Serpent and the Swan and The
Frog King.
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Heather
KT
Registered User
(9/23/04 12:47 pm)
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Re: children and animals
There's an article in the January, 2004 edition of "The Looking Glass" (www.the-looking-glass.net) that might be helpful. It's called "What Makes a Classic? Daemons and Dual Audience in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials" by Susan R. Bobby. It's got a nice list of Works Cited for more info.
Also, on Philip Pullman's own website (www.philip-pullman.com), there are links to interviews, some of which may talk about daemons.
Sounds like a very cool project!
Heather Tomlinson
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winkingstar
Registered User
(9/25/04 12:21 pm)
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Re: children and animals
Terri, thank you for the tip. I found another book by Boria Sax
called The
Parliament of Animals while wandering through the folklore
section of my library, and I requested The
Frog King from another library. They seem promising.
Heather, thank you for the Pullman article. I hadn't found one where the daemons were the main focus, so this is very exciting!
Thank you both very much, and if anyone else has suggestions I'd still love to hear them!
~winkingstar
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