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FINAL Current Developments at the Intersection of British Children ONLINE VERSION
His Dark Materials
trilogy. Embedded in philosophical challenges, the nature of the various beings of Pullman’s secondary worlds is just as outstanding as their role in the novels. Probably the most remarkable physical entity introduced in His Dark Materials are the soul- 3 Particularly dragons are still very popular with both fantasy authors and readers. Their topicality manifests itself in a number of high-quality fantasy novels. A modern trendsetter is the young American Paolini, who is strongly influenced by precursors Tolkien and Le Guin. Consequently, Paolini’s high fantasy Inheritance cycle is modelled on their literary legacy. 4 The prime example here is Tolkien’s monumental work The Lord of the Rings, preceded by The Hobbit. The secondary world of Middle-earth is populated by a vast amount of original fantastic creatures. Beings like the Hobbits, the Ents, Tom Bombadil, the Balrog, Gollum or the Orcs represent the varieties the wide spectrum between good and evil offers. Not only are they endowed with distinct, individual and vivid traits, but also these fantastic creatures are credible. Later authors such as Le Guin take up Tolkien’s baseline and develop their own fantastic beings. Memorable specimen are for instance Earthsea’s dragons, Dahl’s Vermicious Knids, Pullman’s daemons and mulefa or even Pratchett’s box made from intelligent pearwood. 5 Cliff McNish. The Doomspell. London: Orion, 2000; followed by The Scent of Magic. London: Dolphin, 2002 [2001] and The Wizard’s Promise. London: Orion, 2002. 6 McNish, Doomspell, p. 108. 7 Ibd., p. 2. 84 daemons of humans in some of the secondary worlds, which take on an animal form – unsettled during the human’s youth, and in a fixed form when the human has reached maturity. Another of Pullman’s unique creations are the mulefa. Living in a peaceful, idyllic community, these beings are presented as a model society. Over time, the mulefa have adapted perfectly to their environment. Through their specialisation, they occupy a niche in their world’s ecosystem. Avoiding any ecological overexploitation, the mulefa only use natural products for their own purposes, without changing the shape of their environment. Comparable to park rangers, they look after their environment and ensure its smooth functioning. Avowed pacifists, these gentle creatures live in a world without conflicts. Despite their obvious superiority over other, belligerent life forms, the mulefa remain modest and noble creatures. Not only their harmonic community, but also their calmness and organisation contrast sharply with the hectic real world; thus underlining and promoting their values. Unity and teamwork are imperative for the mulefa’s survivability, as their anatomy necessitates constant interaction between the members of the group. To them, it comes naturally and with an ease humans can only dream of. So the mulefa are not just fantastic in respect of their appearance and nature, but also in respect of their functioning society. By showing how life could be for everyone these beings sharpen the awareness of just how far human society is still away from this ideal. On the basis of their innovation, both daemons and mulefa hold an outstanding status among the fantastic creatures in Pullman’s trilogy. Other, perhaps initially less obvious fantastic creatures populate His Dark Materials; some of which are drawn from more traditional beings 8 and some are entirely the author’s own inventions. It is these new creations which fascinate by their originality. In the icy regions of the North of Lyra’s world live armoured bears. These talking polar bears forge their own armour. Another of Pullman’s inventions are the tiny gallivespians, who, mounted on dragonflies, are perfect spies. Of all the inventive authors and works in the corpus of this study, none manages to reach the creative diversity of the fantastic flora and fauna devised by the author team Stewart and Riddell. Their Edge Chronicles take the reader to an independent fantastic realm. The Edge itself is segmented in different characteristic zones, each replete with their own creatures and plants. These are, in ascending topographical order from closest to furthest distance from the Edge itself, Undertown, Sanctaphrax, the Mire, the Twilight Woods and the 8 As in the case of the witches, the angels and the ghosts (cliff-ghasts and spectres) are rooted in literary traditions. Still, even in their cases Pullman takes care to add individual traits. 85 Deepwoods. In the light of the individual plot of the novels, one or more areas of the Edge World are presented and examined more closely. As a rule, the further away from the Edge, the more fantastic and spectacular the creatures of The Edge Chronicles become. The sole exception are Sanctaphrax and Undertown. Whereas the city of Sanctaphrax, erected on top of a buoyant rock and firmly anchored by means of a chain to Undertown, has developed into a sanctuary of an elite of academics, Undertown has become the crowded melting pot of the entire Edge. Here, diversity is at its greatest, albeit this motley crew is estranged from their natural habitat and thus has to adapt to the entirely different circumstances town life necessitates. In its quality of the most remote region of the Edge, the Deepwoods provide the greatest biodiversity. They are the stomping ground for a very large selection of the most different fantastic creatures, drafted from scratch for this secondary world. Both Stewart and Riddell appear to be infinitely creative as far as the invention of new species is concerned. Consequently the Edge Chronicles captivate with a menagerie of unique fantastic creatures in British fantasy literature for children. All sizes, forms and colours are represented amongst the ranks of the inhabitants. Among the vast array figure for instance fromps, ratbirds, prowlgrins, banderbears, the shryke sisterhood, slaughterers, nightwaifs and trolls. 9 The individual creatures are described in much detail, 10 and splendid pen-and-ink drawings support their plasticity as well as the reader’s imagination. Whereas The Edge Chronicles are teeming with fantastic creatures, Nicholson’s The Download 1.22 Mb. Do'stlaringiz bilan baham: |
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