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

4.4.1
 
Traditional humour
At the beginning of the comparatively short history of literature for children, 
education,
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learning and the passing on of traditions, conventions and values held an 
important position. The early textbooks and writings intended for religious edification did not 
yet take into account the individual needs or even preferences of children. Today, childhood is 
seen as an important stage in an individual’s life, during which the child should be given the 
optimum support for its development and playful discovery of its surrounding structures. By 
contrast, in the infancy of children’s literature, childhood was considered a phase of transition 
on a child’s way to maturity that should be got over and done with as sensibly and quickly as 
possible. The indoctrination of the young was therefore designed in such a way that it 
prepared them for the serious side of the life of an adult with all its duties and responsibilities.
In time and with newly stimulated insights through and subsequent to the 
Enlightenment, the individual needs of the child were gradually discovered and taken into 
consideration. Also, it was found that, if combined with humour, play and fun, education and 
guidance can be much more effective than strict indoctrination. The modern level of 
knowledge advocates a relaxed environment – in both educational establishments and 
teaching material – which positively influences the learning process and fosters cognition. 
Until then, however, it has been a long way. Instead of forcing children into a corset of stiff 
and frequently antiquated maxims, the majority of the Victorian authors for children come to 
realise that their genre can and ought to have a certain entertainment value. The latter is 
attained first of all by means of the selection of the treated subjects but also by their 
realisation. For this, humour is indispensable. Revolutionary at the time, the humour of the 
Victorian authors for children has attained classic status and is nowadays in turn considered 
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Many classics of British fantasy literature are well known and remembered in particular for their humour or 
humorous characters that often mock social conventions, traditions or attitudes; for example Toad or the 
Cheshire Cat.
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Religious or secular

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traditional. The Golden Age of children’s literature has produced many classics, which are 
remembered not least because of their various humorous characters or scenes. Outstanding 
representatives of the period are without a doubt the authors Carroll and Lear. With their 
special kind of humour, nonsense, Carroll and Lear are in the vanguard of innovation within 
children’s fantasy literature of the time. Even though other forms of humour such as word 
puns, situational humour, slapstick, irony or exaggerations are far more common in the 
Victorian period, nonsense compensates its proportionate inferiority in numbers by quality, 
creativity and individuality. Above all, this is expressed by its uniqueness. Like no other form 
of humour in children’s literature, nonsense adopts an extreme opposition to the value system 
of the time. This phenomenon criticises the rigid organisation and control of society, turns 
against old-established power structures and hierarchies and
scrutinises conventions and rules 
in respect to their meaningfulness. Reason, one of the cornerstones of the Victorian society, is 
systematically undermined by this form of humour. Yet, in the Alice novels, Carroll cannot 
fully deny his roots in logic. Despite all the absurdities the mathematician bases his works on 
underlying logical rules, so that even in apparent chaos and anarchy the sense does not get 
completely lost. For all his creativity and innovation this feature reveals that Carroll can 
neither escape his time nor break with all conventions.
Nevertheless, Lear and Carroll symbolise the breakthrough of humour as well as its 
establishment as an important element of modern children’s fantasy literature. In the wake of 
their works humour prevails against exclusive seriousness, so that fun, jokes and joy are no 
longer functional but exist for their own sake. Far from being superficial, it can be quite 
sophisticated and challenging. For instance, the intertextuality in Carroll’s works enables 
depth whilst at the same time providing possibilities for persiflage and caricatures. With the 
increasing acceptance of these - at the time - new forms of humour, the literary landscape of 
the genre obtains more possibilities. Among other things, the latter are expressed by 
increasing freedom, openness, tolerance, flexibility, individuality and creativity. Part of this 
opening are also the conscious abandonment of overabundant seriousness and a simultaneous 
move towards play and experimentation. Alternative views permit a revaluation of reality and 
broaden inflexible concepts on the one hand and the personal horizon on the other hand. As a 
result, the powers of imagination are stimulated and cultivated. Children are encouraged in 
their play, and adults can be temporarily transported back in time right into their very own 
childhood.
What was considered revolutionary and refreshingly new in the Victorian period has 
become traditional at the beginning of the 21
st
century. This humour distinguishes itself by 

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strong and characteristic representatives, figures and unforgettable scenes but also by its 
forms. Humoristic figures are for example – to begin with Carroll’s novels – the Mad Hatter, 
the March Hare, Humpty Dumpty or the Cheshire cat. Due to the interplay of their nature, 
behaviour and confusing verbal output each of these characters is either involved in or the 
cause for absurd situations. The characters’ nonconformism shakes the reader’s expectations 
to their very foundations time and again since they approach the novels on the basis of 
existing conventions. Humour is the result of these frequent, unpredictable departures from 
the norm, the surprising turns of events and imaginative possibilities in the secondary world. 
It arises from the discrepancy between the reader’s horizon of expectations and the novels’ 
reversal of those norms, i.e. humour works through the constant comparison with reality and 
normality.
Besides Carroll’s outstanding Alice-novels other humoristic characters of the Golden 
Age have made a lasting impression. For example, it is hard to imagine British nurseries 
without Milne’s eponymous Winnie-the-Pooh. The humour in the Winnie-the-Pooh novels 
frequently depends on the situation. Similar to the talk at cross-purposes in Carroll’s Alice – 
novels, the characters in Milne’s novels fall victim to numerous misunderstandings. Thus 
well-meant actions tend to temporarily wreak more havoc than to have an intended positive 
effect. Each time, a favourable turn of events can avert impending “harm”. At no point is 
there a true danger for any of the characters involved. These incidents are comical because 
their tendency towards chaos is predictable, yet no one doubts the happy ending.
In Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows, a further combination of situational humour 
and humorous character can be observed. The rise and fall of the arrogant, yet endearing Toad 
is presented in a very entertaining way,
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worked into the overall far more pensive structure 
of the novel. This way, a balance is achieved between amusing elements and thought-
provoking ones.
Another traditional form of humour in the Golden Age is word play. The majority of 
humorous classic fantasy novels for children employ this technique or variations of it. Here 
too, the Alice novels act as a trailblazer for word puns and words of equivocal nature. 
Allusions, neologisms, ambiguities and innuendos run through Carroll’s novels. Milne’s