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

Roald Dahl 
(1916-1990), British writer of Norwegian parentage,
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has marked 
children’s fantasy of the second half of the twentieth century with his unforgettable characters 
and ruthless treatment of adults. No other author has been so contested because of his 
portrayals of children and adults in his works. Even today, Dahl divides readers in two 
distinct, incompatible camps. Whereas mainly children and adults with a good sense of black 
humour adore his anarchic figures and enjoy the various conflicts between evil adults and 
mischievous children, there are those who simply dislike him heartily. Between these two 
positions no shades of grey seem to be discernible. Dahl’s novels
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live off the crass 
representation of the daily battle between children and adults. In accordance with the 
“traditional childhood fantasy that children will prevail in battles with evil adults“,
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the 
author’s child protagonists heroically ward off nasty grown-ups. Many critics take offence to 
this harsh treatment of adults as representatives of authority, respect and order. However, very 
much to the delight of his fans, the author presents heavily exaggerated specimen of cruel and 
abusive adults to the readers, only to ridicule them mercilessly afterwards, paying no heed to 
any possible consequences.
What fascinates his admirers is his “uncanny ability to think as a child”.
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For young 
readers, memorable characters like Jack, Charlie or Matilda are very easy to identify with, 
since the logic motivating them is stringent and understandable for every child and supported 
by short, clearly structured sentences. Clear-cut, over-exaggerated black and white contrasts 
between good and evil draw the reader onto the side of the “good” child protagonists and the 
narrator – a pact of mutual understanding between narrator and reader is formed.
Despite marvellous incidents, magic as such is used only sparingly in Dahl’s low 
fantasy novels. When applied, however, magic has a huge impact on the events, resulting in 
rather brisk changes
from realism into fantasy and back
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with radical turns of the story. The 
author’s recipe for success is complemented by a lot of action, farcical as well as pantomimic 
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Compare Carpenter; Prichard, The Oxford Companion, p. 143. 
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Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964/ 1967), Charlie and the Glass Elevator (USA 1972/ UK 1973), Jack 
and the Giant Peach
(1961), The Witches (1983), BFG (1982), The Twits (1980) or Matilda (1988), to name the 
most famous ones. 
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Cullinan; Person, The Continuum Encyclopedia, p. 216. 
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Clute; Grant, The Encyclopedia of Fantasy, p. 245. 
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Compare Kümmerling-Meibauer, Klassiker der Kinder- und Jugendliteratur, p. 270. 

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elements,
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absence of moral undertones with a tendency towards anarchy, vulgarity, 
malicious joy, black humour and a vast amount of word-play and nonsense. Lear’s and 
Carroll’s influence is discernible, yet taken a lot further into Dahl’s own direction. What 
Monty Python is to adults, Dahl is to children. With his characteristic irony and black humour 
he sketches rather bizarre and paradox, even grim scenes, following through to sometimes 
very wayward and unexpected solutions. Although the scope of fantasy may allow for more 
rule-breaking than realism, there are limits. Even a Roald Dahl cannot write about everything: 
Sexual abuse of children is taboo.
UK-born writer Susan Cooper’s (*1935) main contribution to children’s fantasy is 
her The Dark is Rising sequence. Ordered chronologically, the series opens with Over Sea, 
Under Stone
(1965), The Dark is Rising (1973), Greenwitch (1974), The Grey King (1975) 
and Silver On The Tree (1977). Noticeably influenced by Tolkien’s works, Celtic mythology 
and Arthurian legends, Cooper develops a world caught in the struggle between good and 
evil, Light and Dark. Each novel sets a quest whose solution brings the protagonists one step 
closer to victory and peace. In the course of the novels the children fulfil prophecies and 
gather symbolic objects of power. Cooper suggests the existence of a magical, timeless world 
besides the real one, enlarging the spectrum of her narrative considerably and adding a 
mythical dimension. The Dark may be rising, but in due course it is defeated by the Light. In 
her sequence, the author fuses and presents a medley of fantasy, sometimes dimmed by her 
drifting off into clichés.
However, from the end of the 1970s onwards, Diana Wynne Jones (*1934) slowly 
established herself in the genre. Inspired by authors such as Lewis or Tolkien, Wynne Jones 
pointed the way to the future of fantasy in the 1980s and 1990s. She can look back onto a rich 
output of intriguing fantasy novels for children. Despite Wynne Jones’ relatively high output 
of books, we do not find much repetition. Each of her many-faceted and imaginative novels is 
based on a new idea or concept and is composed in its own, carefully chosen style. Typical of 
her suspenseful story-telling are concise sentences, irony – often conveyed through stark 
contrasts of good and bad – and the indispensable humour; the latter tailored individually to 
the respective situation. Of the contemporary writers of fantasy for children in Britain, Wynne 
Jones’ spectrum is huge, covering a multitude of worlds and creatures, as well as many styles 
and topics. In her own individual way, the author treats the central issues of children’s 
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Compare Watson, The Cambridge Guide, p. 192. 

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fantasy: Good versus evil, rite of passage, initiation, friendship and choice-making. The 
author is probably best known for her Dalemark series
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and her Chrestomanci series.
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In 
The Lives of Christopher Chant
Wynne Jones suggests the intriguing possibility of a universe 
replete with entire “series of alternate worlds;”
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a topic which has always fascinated writers 
and readers of fantasy and science-fiction, for example C.S. Lewis in The Chronicles of 
Narnia
.
Fire and Hemlock
(1984) portrays the immersion of the female main character in a 
mysterious puzzle of myth and reality, which can only be solved once “she comes to a 
recognition that she must recreate the travails of the heroine of the Tam Lin ballad.”
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This 
mysterious, skilful intertwining of fact and fantasy is Wynne Jones’ speciality. Like Garner’s 
The Owl Service
, the mystery of Fire and Hemlock withstands many readings, turning it into a 
quest itself. The multiple layers of her novels draw upon psychology, sociology and even 
politics,
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adding even more facets to the narrative.
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Consisting of Cart and Cwidder (1975), Drowned Ammet (1977), The Spellcoats (1979) and The Crown of 
Dalemark
(1993). 
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Charmed Life (1977), The Magicians of Caprona (1980), Witch Week (1982) and The Lives of Christopher 
Chant
(1988).
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Clute; Grant, The Encyclopedia of Fantasy, p. 522. 
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Ibd. 
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Compare Watson, Cambridge Guide, p. 150. 

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