The Core Preoccupations of Classic Nineteenth-Century Childrens Fictions Are Obsolete - Essay Example

? EA300 TMA02 ‘The core preoccupations of so-called ic nineteenth century children’s fictions are today obsolete and irrelevant’. Discuss. Afterthe deep analysis of the literature of nineteenth century and the modern era , it is hard to say that the core preoccupations of so-called classic nineteenth century children’s fictions are altogether obsolete and irrelevant in today’s literature. When it comes to the subject matter, there is a great deal of difference in the choice of theme and the purpose of the writings of both eras but the deep investigation makes us realize that today’s children literature has its roots in the nineteenth century literature. Let's observe the writings of both eras and then conclude what is completely obsolete and what we still find in children's literature. The core preoccupation of the children’s fiction presented in nineteenth century is more about instructing and guiding it's reader to come up with strength and meet all the odd circumstances of real life while providing delight as well. The social issues such as child labour, self-improvement etc. are also discussed at a wide range. Another celebrated theme is the adventures of the soldiers as it was the era of wars. On the other hand, the contemporary literature mainly provides entertainment to it's young readers through the creation of a fantasy world which renders super human powers but even in that fantasy world, we find an adventurous spirit in the characters which inspires it's readers and teaches them to struggle for a good living as it has its own reward. Grenby believes that the origin of children literature lies in the ‘Early Modern Period’ which means the time period of fifteenth century to eighteenth century (Grenby, cited in Montgomery, H. ed, 2009, p. 17). In eighteenth century, chapbooks were common and inexpensive. They presented fairy tales, ballads, religious tracts and old romances. These chapbooks aimed at instructing the inexperienced people with woodcut illustrations and simple language which attracted both children and adults, were later considered as the first books representing children literature. Observing the popularity of these books among children Newbery published ‘A Little Pretty Pocket-Book’ in 1744 which aimed to both instruct and entertain children (Montgomery, H. ed, 2009, p. 13). At the time of this book's publication, Zipes remarked that the earlier books which were written for children were more strictly for moral and religious teachings but this book brought amusement to the children as one of its main purposes (Zipes et al., 2005, p. xxviii, cited in Montgomery, H. ed, 2009, p. 13). ‘Robinson Crusoe’, written originally for adults in the eighteenth century, was a popular book in children's literature when offered to them in its cut-down version. This book not only teaches moral and religious lessons but also inspires its young readers to handle the odds of practical life through its protagonist who tries to cope with the hostile and unfriendly environment of an unknown island. The book also presents the struggle of the bourgeois, the life of the poor, the division of labour and the economic condition of the country. This book influenced many books written later in the nineteenth century such as ‘The Swiss Family Robinson’ (1812) by Johann David Wyss, ‘Coral Island’ (1857) by R.M. Ballantyne, ‘Treasure Island’ (1883) by R.L. Stevenson etc. and they portrayed the same theme to inspire and instruct their young readers (Montgomery, H. ed, 2009, p. 19). ‘Alice in Wonderland’ (1865) by Lewis Carroll was another famous book which unlike the other books was among one of the first books which focused more on the entertainment of children rather than teaching them morals as Grenby viewed that it's focal point was entertainment of children and learning was not much emphasised (Grenby, cited in Montgomery, H. ed, 2009, p. 17) An important preoccupation of the nineteenth century’s children literature was the social issues which directly affected children. We see that in the 19th century, the children literature propagates the idea of abolishing slavery as expressed in ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’. 'The Water Babies' shows an effort to teach the society the importance of children's education by improving the condition of chimney sweepers (Doyle, 2008, cited in Montgomery, H. ed, 2009, p. 12). So the popular literature written for children in the 19th century also played the role of a social reformer. Some of the books presented in the nineteenth century also contain political and sexual themes which provide the knowledge about newly emerging problems for children in society such as living with gay parents. Such knowledge aimed to educate the children through such situations easily. In his essay ‘Instruction and Delight’ Hunt remarks that issues of politics and power which are also found in children's literature are not any particular views of a nation rather they present the situation of the entire world. Children's literature is supposed to be free from political and sexual themes and when the stories are based on these ideologies in an explicit fashion, the books are considered to be inappropriate for children. The literature with controversial themes also got published in late nineteenth and twentieth century. ‘The Water Babies’ was published in 1863 and through it the unconventional marriage of homosexuals was presented to make it familiar and a normal trend in society. In 1983 ‘Jenny’s Life with Eric and Martin’ the children living with gay parents are portrayed which can present a specific image of the world not to be shown to the children at a younger stage. Such books which present some ideologies are restricted to children by their parents (Doyle, 2008, cited in Montgomery, H. ed, 2009, p. 12). Analysing the difference in the children's literature of both nineteenth century and the modern era, Reynolds states that good quality literature was officially published in nineteenth century. The low quality literature did not get any official approval but it got published on a lower level, attained popularity and influenced the readers on a wider range and we observe the same diversity in the quality of the content of modern literature (Reynolds, K., DVD 1). Bristow thoroughly sees the differentiation among the ‘popular’, low and cheap quality of literature and says that the educationalist's of the nineteenth century had a clear picture of this variety in children literature in their minds. Even in the cheap magazines the stories having different quality were distinguished: popular and respectable literature such as ‘The Boy’s Own Paper’: the disreputable books such as ‘Wild Boys of London’ and the cheap and fantastic books such as ‘Varney the Vampire’- a penny dreadful series (Britow, Reader 1, p. 135, cited in Montgomery, H. ed, 2009, p. 92) Bristow deeply observes the low quality literature presented at the end of the nineteenth century and according to him, the reason behind these moralistic anxieties presented in children's literature is the strategy implied by the middle-class who wanted the children of newly emerging educated working-class to show commitment to their nation’s being united imperial. The cheap literature was not approved as the language used was overstating, describing the two dimensional characters and putting forth sensational effect. Bristow acknowledges rebellious attitude of the hero in such type of literature which does not bring any positive impact on the minds of the children. The bravery and strength of the hero can be appreciated when he struggles hard to cope with odd circumstances but a hero going against the authorities by cleverness can influence children in the wrong way which could lead them to bring harm to society in later life. Bristow quotes the example of Turnpike Dick- a hero who tricks police by his cleverness, has some bad habits of getting drunk with his friends or attracts women (Bristow, Reader 1, p. 135, cited in Montgomery, H. ed, 2009, p. 92). Such writings can fascinate the children but they do not attract the educationalists and bring fear to them. ‘Varney the Vampire’ is a sort of disreputable and is considered as unsuitable for children from nineteenth century literature for its being dreadful, bloody and sensational. On the other hand, the adventurous stories written for boys by G.A. Henry in the same era are considered to be a good example of respectable and popular children's literature (Montgomery, H. ed, 2009, p. 92). ‘Treasure Island’, published in 1883, was also considered as respectable type of literature which famous for the adventurous stories and it also gives a psychological account of the journey which leads the hero from boyhood to adulthood (Montgomery, H. ed, 2009, p. 95) To compensate the penny-dreadful, the publication of the ‘The Boys’ Own Paper’ was started at the end of the nineteenth century which contained no slang or sensational language. It taught healthy living and encouraged its readers to improve themselves in many ways. ‘The Girls’ Own Paper’ was also started soon which contained poems and stories to guide girls in domestic life and taught them to handle domestic matters in an entertaining way. Both of these papers show elements of both instruction and amusement (Reynolds, 1992, p. 139, cited in Montgomery, H. ed, 2009, pp. 87-8). The analysis of the themes of the stories marked as an example of popular and respectable writings of the nineteenth century by the educationalists makes us understand the core preoccupation of the literature published in this era. It is noteworthy that many books had a gender differentiation as many books were written solely for boys as they presented adventurous nature of boys to inspire the readers. The books written particularly for girls had domestic and imaginative themes. Reynolds, in his interview in the DVD 1, refers to the views of Ruskin who remarks that man’s nature compels him to remain aggressive, active and defensive as he is a creator, a doer and a developer and the energy in him leads him to live a life which is full of adventurers and allows him to conquest the world and take part in military campaigns. The women, according to Ruskin, are instinctive, sensitive and submissive. They are good at domestic job and an emotional support for the other members of the family. Reynolds presents his view point that the boys and girls have their own territories where they prosper well according to their nature and physical strength. The difference in stories was not limited to the gender differentiation rather it aimed different age groups and classes. Reynolds is of the view that among boys the older ones are masculine, physically skilled and tend to lead but the younger boys may not have enough physical strength so feel dependent. For such variety of behaviour among boys there is a wide range of stories which include fantasy, adventure, military fiction, and heroic spirit which could present a complete set of code that could to be followed by choice and prosper in life (Reynolds, DVD 1). The literature of nineteenth century aiming at girls was of sensational and emotional kind which guided them to build up and carry on relationships. There were observed anxieties regarding the choice of reading books meant for the opposite sex. For boys who preferred to read the books suitable for girls, it was said that this practice made them less energetic and more emotional and imaginative which affected their potential and made them less focused towards the important tasks at hand (Reynolds, DVD 1). For girls it did not matter much as they loved reading any book, many girls appreciated more the adventure stories as it was an unfamiliar territory to them as Salmon basing on the survey, gives the reason of girl’s choice of Scott and Dickens, is that they do not find anything interesting in the stories meant for them as they are quite imaginative and much of them belong to their daily life which they could produce by themselves and the other literature is consciously made amusing and exciting and full of stirring stories of adventures across the world. Salmon remarks that ‘Little Women’ and ‘Good Wives’ belong to high quality of ‘girls’ books (Salmon, 1884, cited in Reader 1, p. 129). In the twentieth century, we observe that war influenced literature and the gender division in the books is weakened. Both amusement and education are the purposes of today’s children's literature. ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’ by C.S. Lewis was published in 1950 and in the charity Booktrust poll in 2003 was voted as the best children's book. This book also presents the adventure of young children without the supervision of their parents. ‘Northern Lights’ by Philip Pullman, published in 1995, is also a story of an adventurous life of a girl which inspires its readers but at the same time witches and demons are also an essential part of the story which has become the hallmark of today’s literature. Another famous children's book of contemporary literature ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’, presents the adventures of a young boy without the participation of his parents (Montgomery, H. ed, 2009, p. 10). Though ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’ is set in an imaginative world, the protagonist through his adventurous spirit reminds us of ‘Treasure Island’ and ‘Robinson Crusoe’. So, a deep analysis of children's literature from the nineteenth century and its comparison with the modern children literature makes me conclude that some of the core preoccupations of nineteenth century are obsolete today, such as gender division is no more observed in literature as the books are not being written separately, setting of the novels is more of a fantasy world than of a real world, etc. But, we find the adventurous spirit among the characters, the protagonist's struggle to meet the odd circumstances in an unknown territory. We find that in today’s popular children books the inspiration is derived from both the 18th and 19th centuries. References Britow, ‘Reading for Empire’ in Montgomery, H. (ed) (2009) ‘Week 7 Growing Up, Gender and Reading’ Abingdon, Routledge/ Milton Keynes, The Open University, p. 92. Doyle, (2008) ‘Understanding the purpose of children’s literature’ in Montgomery, H. (ed) (2009) ‘Week 1 Children’s Literature and the Child’, Abingdon, Routledge/ Milton Keynes, The Open University, p. 12. Grenby, M. ‘Uncovering the earliest children’s literature’ in Montgomery, H. (ed) (2009) ‘Week 1 Children’s Literature and the Child’ Abingdon, Routledge/ Milton Keynes, The Open University, p. 17. Montgomery, H. (ed) (2009) ‘Revisiting children’s literature: Children’s Literature and the Child’ Abingdon, Routledge/ Milton Keynes, The Open University, pp. 10-19. Montgomery, H. (ed) (2009) ‘Reading for empire: Week 7 Growing Up, Gender and Reading’ Abingdon, Routledge/ Milton Keynes, The Open University, pp. 92-95. Reynolds, K. (1992) ‘Gendered reading choices’ in Montgomery, H. (ed) (2009) ‘Week 7 Growing Up, Gender and Reading’ pp. 87-8. Reynolds, K. ‘EA300 DVD 1, Children’s Literature’. Salmon, E. (1884) in ‘Boys’ and Girls’ Reading’, Reader 1, p. 129. Zipes, J. (2005) ‘Understanding the purpose of children’s literature’ in Montgomery, H. (ed) (2009) ‘Week 1 Children’s Literature and the Child’, Abingdon, Routledge/ Milton Keynes, The Open University, p. 13. Read More