Microsoft Word Hollie Adams ma thesis

 
Comparing British and German Children’s Texts in the 1990’s and 2000’s 
Pullman and Funke both use twelve-year old female girls as their protagonists, which 
is very different from the protagonists in LWW, JK, and RH. The two protagonists, Lyra 
(NL) and Meggie (T), are forced into the position of heroine as they must save their 
loved ones; Meggie’s father, Mo and Lyra’s friend, Roger. These male characters are 
taken by evil forces in the novel and thus become “dudes in distress”, reversing the 
classic trope of the damsel in distress (Jordahl 2014).
As they are kidnapped, Mo and Roger are stripped of all agency and authority, 
however, this authority is pushed upon Lyra and Meggie, who must devise a plan to 
save their family/friends. Lyra and Meggie as the heroines of the novel are greatly 
contrasted to Roger and Mo. Roger and Mo are both sensitive and caring, whilst Lyra 
is rebellious and Meggie is often bossy towards her father. Due to the men’s 
sensibilities, they lose agency. They both lose their agency willingly at first; Mo by 
refusing to use his powers, and Roger by being a blind, obedient servant. They also lose 
their agency unwillingly as they are both captured. Thus, the female protagonists have 
more power in these texts than the men on the side of righteousness. The girls are 
brave, brash and fierce, taking on qualities that would often be attributed to the male 

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hero. In these texts, it is no longer necessary for the man to be the hero and women can 
take their own destiny into their hands. In the 90’s and 00’s (the time periods of these 
texts), society had become more liberal and men and women appear as equal in the 
work force. Men and women could work together and women could take positions of 
authority, like the hero.
Meggie and Lyra are free, autonomous heroines, however, they only gain this 
autonomy after going through the initiation process that Kümmerling-Meibauer 
discusses in relation to T (129). This initiation process states that a female character 
may only grow to be independent after going through three phases. First, they must 
become independent from their families. At the beginning of NL, Lyra is already 
independent from her family as her mother and father are absent. In contrast, Meggie 
has an exceptionally strong bond with her father and relies on him throughout the first 
third of the novel. It is only when Mo is kidnapped that Meggie begins to realise she 
must take an independent role. The second phase is the quest the character goes on to 
start gaining social experience. Both characters go on a quest and meet other characters, 
where they realise the true state of the world outside their own life. Finally, the 
characters are initiated into a world of independence and become fully aware of their 
own identity. By doing this, Pullman and Funke show readers that one can become their 
own person, independent from gender. One simply must experience life to construct 
who they are and not be confined by anything.
Despite the autonomy and freedom of Pullman and Funke’s protagonists, these 
characters are not always free as the authors strip away the heroines’ autonomy by 
having them captured by the evil characters of the novel. They are thus controlled by 
external forces. Meggie loses full autonomy however, she becomes a part of a 
partnership to save the day. Contrasting to this, Lyra saves herself. She is her own hero 

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and although she is helped throughout the text, she gains back her autonomy. She relies 
on nobody in the end. On the other hand, Meggie is never in the position to become 
fully autonomous, instead her and other male characters “share equally, sometimes 
assuming non-traditional gender roles, as they ‘both seek to free themselves from the 
perverted cultures of their respective worlds’ (O’Hanlon 152). The two female 
protagonists are strong, relatable characters and yet, Funke uses a character who 
constructs her own identity but works with others to save the day, rather than ever 
becoming fully independent. On the contrary, Pullman highlights to readers that 
heroines do not always need help. The damsel can fall into distress but she does not 
necessarily need a hero to save her. 
What is interesting about these two texts is the difference in setting. In 
Pullman’s text, we are made aware from the first page that the location is Oxford, a 
place that is inherently British. Pullman locates his 12 year old antagonist in a college 
that forbids women. It could be speculated that Pullman is critiquing a society that had 
been ruled by male monarchs and male politicians with women being kept on the side-
lines. Pullman’s setting makes sense in regards to a female character attempting to 
break free from constricting gender roles. Funke, on the other hand, never uses location 
names. T is not specifically located in Germany and thus, if it were to be read in 
translation without knowledge of its origins, it could be believed that it were an English 
text. However, Funke educates the reader on the location in a different manner; by using 
her antagonists. For example, Capricorn is a cruel dictator, who tortures the innocent. 
He is ruthless and will stop at nothing to get what he wants. He punishes anyone who 
gets in his way. One of the most striking moments in the novel that reflects Nazi crimes 
is when Capricorn’s henchman burn all of Elinor’s beloved books. Funke has stated in 
interviews that she believes the Nazi’s ruined the fantasy and myth tradition in 

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Germany, as they claimed it for themselves and sullied it with their own ideas 
(Bradbury 2014). It could be argued that by presenting her antagonists as the 
representation of the Nazis, and by having a young female protagonist defeat them, 
Funke is attempting to reclaim the fantasy genre for men, women and children alike.
In the 1990’s and 2000’s, society had become more liberal than what it was in 
the 1950’s and 1960’s. Authors became aware of the faults of their predecessors and 
started to deal with issues that could be deemed as traditionally taboo or as not suitable 
for children. For example, Pullman has always critiqued C.S. Lewis and his depictions 
of certain key topics. He has thus become aware of the faults in the British children’s 
fantasy tradition and refuses to repeat them. Through his use of female protagonists and 
antagonists who attempt to reclaim authority from men, Pullman presents a more liberal 
and equal view of gender in fantasy. Funke, on the other hand, attempts to redeem 
fantasy from the Nazi past, rather than an author who used stereotypical portrayals in 
their writings. Funke has stated herself that “fantasy writers are more politically active 
than most”, and that one should be able to imagine another world in order to change the 
one they are living in (Bradbury 2014). The role of the author “is to ask questions that 
others may not get around to asking, to “fish for the unspoken” truth” and thus, both 
authors question the literary past of their respective countries and what their novels can 
do to change this (Bradbury 2014). Both texts challenge gender stereotypes and 
moments in history that should not be repeated.

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