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FINAL Current Developments at the Intersection of British Children ONLINE VERSION
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Primary and secondary worlds With roots reaching far back to the beginnings of British children’s fantasy, primary and secondary worlds represent a vital modern structure, too. It is against the background of 182 3407 pages in my hardcover novels. 183 The Chronicles of Narnia (2006), The Lord of the Rings (2001-2003), Harry Potter 1-6 (2001-2008), Eragon (2007), The Golden Compass (2007) or Inkheart (2008). 150 these worlds, usually by means of direct contrast and alignment, that their respective advantages and disadvantages can be distilled and discussed. From this, food for thought regarding new possibilities and their consequences, i.e. fresh impetus for the author’s and reader’s own reality can be gained. Primary and secondary worlds in fantasy literature thus offer an opportunity for criticism whilst simultaneously suggesting improvement and alternatives. The primary world in fantasy literature frequently tallies with or differs only slightly from the world known to the reader as reality. A great number of fantasy novels for children take as their starting point this primary world. Here, the story unfolds in a relatively familiar environment, permitting the introduction to the plot and the hero(es) in their usual surroundings. This way, both main characters and reader are gradually prepared for the contact with fantastic beings and worlds, which reduces the abruptness of a transition. Often guides facilitate such a transition from a primary to one or several secondary worlds. Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy is a special case. Divergent from the above observations, the first volume opens with an introduction to the - from the viewpoint of the reader secondary - world of the heroine Lyra. The reader’s reality and Lyra’s world share many traits, yet they are distinctly different, too. By contrast, the second volume of the trilogy starts with the introduction of the hero Will, who lives in the reader’s world, i.e. the primary world. From the perspectives of the two main characters, the definitions of primary and secondary worlds are reversed. For Will and the reader, Lyra’s world is a secondary one, whereas for Lyra, Will’s world is secondary. Congruent with the announcement of the various settings made at the beginning of the trilogy, this dualism of primary and secondary worlds is one of the central threads running through Pullman’s His Dark Materials. Secondary worlds other than their own, for example Cittàgazze, are recognised by both hero and heroine as truly secondary. Any contemporary attempt at a definition of the term “secondary world” ought to consider “On Fairy Tales”, J.R.R. Tolkien’s revolutionary essay. His observations, which, already made in 1936, still influence the fantasy genre, illustrate in particular the understanding of the role of the author and the kind of creative act he performs. Similar to the divine act of creation, the author – as suggested by Tolkien – when inventing his story and characters, moves on a god-like level. However, since an author is only human, he cannot be 151 but a “sub-creator”. 184 If he succeeds, the result of his work is a secondary world whose properties come very close to or even match reality. Ultimately, his aim should be to endow this world with such an individuality and plasticity that “[i]nside it, what he relates is “true”: It accords with the laws of that world. You therefore believe it, while you are, as it were, inside.” 185 The secondary world’s exotic otherness becomes very distinct in terms of specific laws of nature, unknown elements and life forms, evolution, social and religious structures, history and, only very rarely, mythology. In a coherent, logical, well thought-out concept of a secondary world it is conform to the laws of nature. Saxby suggests five possibilities for outward forms of a secondary world. Firstly, the secondary world can be “a well-defined entity” 186 with its own characteristic name that coexists with a primary world. Both keep up mutual relations and exchange. What Saxby fails to mention here is that these two worlds are not joined physically, so that travel in one way or another is necessary. Novels that fulfil this criterion are for example Brennan’s faerie novels or Funke’s Inkheart trilogy. Secondly, the primary and the secondary world can be physically adjacent, 187 so that crossing between the worlds occurs by means of apertures such as doors, gates or mirrors, with the other world being directly behind. C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia , Carroll’s Alice novels, and more recently Nix’ The Keys to the Kingdom and Pullman’s His Dark Materials belong to this criterion, where Will uses the Subtle Knife to open and close windows to adjacent worlds. Thirdly, both worlds can overlap in such a way that “to enter it characters have to penetrate the interface”. 188 The only corpus novels which feature such an interface is Crossley-Holland’s Arthur trilogy, in which the Seeing Stone fulfils this function. According to Saxby, a further possibility is that the secondary world is part of the primary, realistic one. The existence of this sub-world is usually only disclosed to a select few who distinguish themselves through extraordinary powers, which Saxby calls the “Gift”. 189 To everyone else, life forms of this secondary world are either invisible or disguise themselves. This is the case in novels such as Artemis Fowl, Harry Potter or The Greenwich Chronicles . Finally, the fifth outward form a secondary world can take according to Saxby is that of reality. This is the case when there is only one – fantastic – world in which the novel 184 http://brainstorm-services.com/wcu-2004/fairystories-tolkien.pdf, pp. 1-28, p. 12. 19-12-2009. 185 Saxby, Books, p. 234. 186 Ibd., p. 235. 187 Ibd., p. 236. 188 Ibd. 189 Ibd., p. 237. 152 takes place, so that the secondary world becomes the primary one. Here, the otherness stems from the divergence between the reader’s own reality and that of the novel. Prime examples for such a secondary world “that simply is” 190 are Le Guin’s Earthsea quartet, Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, Stewart and Riddell’s The Edge Chronicles or Paolini’s Inheritance cycle. Download 1.22 Mb. Do'stlaringiz bilan baham: |
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