Microsoft Word final-current Developments at the Intersection of British Children-online-version doc

6.6.1
 
Morals, values and messages of current British fantasy novels for 
children 
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
is said to be the first British children’s fantasy 
novel free from open Victorian moralising and indoctrination. Up to its publication, the moral 
instruction and constant lecturing of the readers as well as their spiritual edification and 
consolidation were the main concerns of literature for children. Alice introduced the fun factor 
on a wider scale. Its contents and style are intended to be enjoyed, not studied or learned by 
heart. In the aftermath of Alice, fantasy for children slowly abandoned open indoctrination, 
the writing for purely moral, religious or educational purposes. This turn of the tide towards 
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Transported into a different framework, yet recognisable earthly, explosive issues can be accosted and 
discussed with the necessary distance.

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more indirect and moderate moralisation took time to establish itself. Even today, children’s 
literature is far from being purpose-free or without morals as, imparting the existing system of 
values, it is still ascribed an educational purpose. What has definitely changed is the way of 
upbringing of children. Over time, the definition of socially acceptable behaviour has shifted 
and adapted to the current circumstances, manners, morals and values. Today, education 
favours active and voluntary understanding. Violence and cruelty are no longer punishments 
for naughty children but external, even alien and unjust threats. The latter either are rooted in 
society itself, nature or beings from parallel or other worlds. Modern violence thus appears in 
different combinations, situations and degrees of intensity and has become something like a 
general mood against the background of which education takes place.
As a countermeasure against such a minimising and depreciation, all current British 
fantasy novels for children, in varying degrees, impart and pass on traditional morals and 
values. In a time in which focal points dwindle noticeably, manners and values are not exempt 
from this development. A recalling of traditions in literature mainly intended for children 
makes sense in so far as young readers are still more open to new impressions and suggestions 
than older readers who have already formed their opinions and are more unlikely to change 
them. Since time immemorial, unstable periods of innovation and radical change have always 
alternated with phases of stable retrospection. It is therefore not surprising that the current 
development is characterised by a longing for stability. Yet at the same time, the demand for 
progress is so strong that it cannot be given up either. Trying to combine traditions with 
progress, current British fantasy novels for children somehow have to do the splits and to 
make concessions to both. Given the progressive instability of values, authors try to 
counteract this by upholding morals and values in their novels. As a result, the messages 
conveyed by current fantasy publications are concurring. Great importance is attached to 
human relations and the harmonious relation of beings, above all humans, to their surrounding 
environment, be it a world, a planet, a dimension etc. As far as human relations are concerned, 
communication is the key competence. With the help of the novels’ main characters, basic 
values are defined. Applied to concrete situations, they are practised and strengthened over 
time. Ideally, a mentor is a living example of desirable behaviour. Not only does he teach 
manners and values, thus providing orientation and guidance, but he also gives feedback to 
the progress of the main characters’ education. The main values conveyed are friendship, 
love, trust, courage, loyalty, solidarity and respect. They should not only be paid to one’s 
fellow beings but also to an increasing extent to one’s environment. Circumspect behaviour is 
considered a prerequisite for desirable harmony and peace. At the same time, the fantasy 

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novels appeal to the responsibilities and duties everyone, not just the main characters, has. 
The importance of the forward-looking preservation of one’s environment rates highly,
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as 
well as the courage to defend one’s convictions. Individuality is fostered, however irksome or 
embarrassing it may be, and the courage, ability and perseverance to act against comfortable 
trends by making your own, sometimes unpopular, decisions. Another message is the 
responsible-minded dealing with power and the outlawing of its abuse. In current British 
fantasy novels for children exist innumerable negative examples. Rowling’s Voldemort, 
Nicholson’s Master, Beddor’s Queen Redd, Foreman’s Odin, Mc Nish’s evil witches, 
Nimmo’s three aunts and the Bloors or Taylor’s villains are just a few of them. Connected to 
this issue is the question of the topical definition of power, its influence on people and the 
profile of an ideal wielder.