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Sign up for our monthly email alertsJ. M. Barrie's Peter Pan In and Out of Time
A Children's Classic at 100
Series: Children's Literature Association Centennial Studies #4
Co-published with: Children's Literature Association
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SUBJECTS
Literature » Children's & Young Adult Literature
Library & Information Science » Children's & Young Adult Services
Children's & Young Adult Services » Children's & Young Adult Services (General)
Children's & Young Adult Services » Collection Development
Literature » Literary Criticism
Children's & Young Adult Services » Literary Criticism
Literature » Science Fiction & Fantasy
REVIEWS
"...a seminal collection that adds to the growing scholarship on children's literature and attests to the popularity of and growing interest in literature for children. It is a work that is informed by scholarship and research of which only experts are capable; but is addressed to all...the book is a great accomplishment and deserves praise."
—2007, H-Net
DESCRIPTION
Celebrating 100 years of Peter Pan, this fourth volume in the Centennial Studies series explores the cultural contents of Barrie's creation and the continuing impact of Peter Pan on children's literature and popular culture today, especially focusing on the fluctuations of time and narrative strategies. This collection of essays on Peter Pan is separated into four parts.
The first section is comprised of essays placing Barrie's in its own time period, and tackles issues such as the relationship between Hook and Peter in terms of child hatred, the similarities between Peter and Oscar Wilde, Peter Pan's position as an exemplar of the Cult of the Boy Child is challenged, and the influence of pirate lore and fairy lore are also examined. Part two features an essay on Derrida's concept of the grapheme, and uses it to argue that Barrie is attempting to undermine racial stereotypes. The third section explores Peter Pan's timelessness and timeliness in essays that examine the binary of print literacy and orality; Peter Pan's modular structure and how it is ideally suited to video game narratives; the indeterminacy of gender that was common to Victorian audiences, but also threatening and progressive; Philip Pullman and J.K. Rowling, who publicly claim to dislike Peter Pan and the concept of never growing up, but who are nevertheless indebted to Barrie; and a Lacanian reading of Peter Pan arguing that Peter acts as "the maternal phallus" in his pre-Symbolic state. The final section looks at the various roles of the female in Peter Pan, whether against the backdrop of British colonialism or Victorian England. Students and enthusiasts of children's literature will find their understanding of Peter Pan immensely broadened after reading this volume.
List of Contributors
Emily Clark, Karen Coats, Paul Fox, Irene Hsaio, Cathlena Martin, Jill May, Karen McGavock, M. Joy Morse, John Pennington, Christine Roth, David Rudd, William Clay Kinchen Smith, C. Anita Tarr, Laurie N. Taylor, Rosanna West Walker, Carrie Wasinger, Donna R. White, and Kayla McKinney Wiggins.
ABOUT THE EDITORS
C. Anita Tarr is an associate professor of English at Illinois State University, where she teaches children's and young adult literature with additional specialties in fantasy and science fiction, poetry, and women's studies.
Donna R. White teaches young adult literature, linguistics, science fiction and fantasy, and writing at Arkansas Tech University.
