On children's literature and Alice's assertion:
Alice in Wonderland has been that one text in every child’s life which finally lends a hand towards them, to their curiosity and inquisitiveness about things, relationships and their fantasy world, where plants chatter, animals perform chores and life is but a game. The theory of children’s literature is as complex and intertwined as its stories. These texts are known to provide pleasure to anyone big or small but the question which is put up each time continues to be that of, whether or not are these children’s texts as innocent and “juvenile” as they might seem. Fantasy, in a sense, becomes the antithesis to realism.
At the beginning of the text, Alice’s game of “Let’s Pretend…” with her kitten which leads to boredom, curiosity and then the voyage in the looking glass world. In the entire story, the element of chessboard becomes very important since Alice acts as the eleventh pawn and through the course of the story, plays and lives the game in order to become the queen. When one thinks of fantasy, it suddenly provides with a sharp sense of relief since whatsoever so mentioned is but a “lie”, it is an alternate reality so one has the scope to explore infinitely by either complimenting or inverting the present notion of what is considered as to be “real”. While working with children’s literature, there must also be a sense of the realisation that a child’s perception of reality is different than that of an adult thus it becomes apt to remark that, A fantastical book like Through the Looking Glass perhaps could only be written by one who was an intelligent child reader.
“Nonsense has the fear of nothingness; quite as great as the fear of everything else.”
Usually, Children’s literature is considered to be non-serious work and fantasy, considered to be an easy genre to work with since it also works around the idea of what is considered to be “nonsensical”. Fantasy is told to be trivial and unimportant as opposite to the expand of “seriousness” the other genres have to offer. However, one must question as to what is more serious than something concrete enough to be carried down in the writings (in a certain manner) after years from the budding of its first thought as a child (a thought which can stay) and is realised to be vital for the writer so as to dwell upon it. Still, Children’s literature was underrated which mustn’t be the case since, under the disguise of these tales, the writers play about many political undertones which are meant to, in a sense, mock at the scenario prevalent in the society in the face of censorship. Carrol too makes optimum use of the scope of the same. In the essay, Children’s Literature: Theory and Practice, Felicity A. Hughes mentions how fantasy is regarded as “childish” thus stupid and frivolous and thus doesn’t really become a subject of criticism since the readership is assumed to be of children who do apply but don’t necessarily realise the concept of criticism as we do; so, to speak, the writers enjoy the freedom of writing in the name of children’s writing. Most of the times, these children’s writings are actually serious with dark, serious and even violent elements under the face of it. These texts even play with deep symbolism (like the character of the Queen with the Victorian queen, Commodity fetishism and Victorian capitalism in the shop where Alice goes, the notion of the “faster” progress in England wherein Alice herself represents as a subject of the state), the character of Alice who also becomes a pawn and ironically tries to become the queen (while even when she becomes the queen, is controlled) draws a deep comparison with the general public who in the scope of uplifting their status, end up being under the illusion of being “liberated” since they are further subject to the control and power which is exercised upon them (even their identity is disregarded and lost, like Alice’s name). Many feelings and/or traits of human nature are also expressed under the cover of fantasy-like jealousy, the assertion of power (in relation to the stature and the differences), want for control, desires and even deception. Hughes also mentions that the critics found themselves to be ill-equipped to deal with fantasy properly, this provides a contrast between the notion of disregarding the children’s text as unimportant when, in this scenario, it is tough for the “intelligent” adults to decipher or even, make attempts to analyse it. Of course, Carrol's work leaves us as stunned as it did the first time we imagined of our ‘wonderland’ (meant to be infinite, free to “wander” and wonder), however, one must also not fail to identify on how it was full of flaws, with the characters being imposing their rules of but the wonderland, it is but a wrong notion that children’s books are not meant for the adult reader, As Hughes further mentions, “The theory of children’s writing has been for some time in a state of confusion” and thus in the continuity of the same remark, perhaps we all are confused by the reality and are unwilling to live in it as how we want to, thus convince and remind ourselves to “Let’s Pretend” …
Alice in Wonderland has been that one text in every child’s life which finally lends a hand towards them, to their curiosity and inquisitiveness about things, relationships and their fantasy world, where plants chatter, animals perform chores and life is but a game. The theory of children’s literature is as complex and intertwined as its stories. These texts are known to provide pleasure to anyone big or small but the question which is put up each time continues to be that of, whether or not are these children’s texts as innocent and “juvenile” as they might seem. Fantasy, in a sense, becomes the antithesis to realism.
The children’s literature genre comprises of what we popularly refer as to children’s tales which are known to source down from the oral tradition of storytelling by the adults so as to engage, inform, distract, teach and/or preach the little ones. To hold one’s attention, it becomes important to alter the elements and at times (like Carroll did), the world of the story. These fantasy elements seem nonsensical in our ‘flat spheres’ but perfectly fit in the universe of the story. Through the Looking Glass is the sequel to the infamous story of Alice in Wonderland which focusses on the further adventures in Alice’s life where she is seen growing into womanhood.
“Nonsense has the fear of nothingness; quite as great as the fear of everything else.”
Usually, Children’s literature is considered to be non-serious work and fantasy, considered to be an easy genre to work with since it also works around the idea of what is considered to be “nonsensical”. Fantasy is told to be trivial and unimportant as opposite to the expand of “seriousness” the other genres have to offer. However, one must question as to what is more serious than something concrete enough to be carried down in the writings (in a certain manner) after years from the budding of its first thought as a child (a thought which can stay) and is realised to be vital for the writer so as to dwell upon it. Still, Children’s literature was underrated which mustn’t be the case since, under the disguise of these tales, the writers play about many political undertones which are meant to, in a sense, mock at the scenario prevalent in the society in the face of censorship. Carrol too makes optimum use of the scope of the same. In the essay, Children’s Literature: Theory and Practice, Felicity A. Hughes mentions how fantasy is regarded as “childish” thus stupid and frivolous and thus doesn’t really become a subject of criticism since the readership is assumed to be of children who do apply but don’t necessarily realise the concept of criticism as we do; so, to speak, the writers enjoy the freedom of writing in the name of children’s writing. Most of the times, these children’s writings are actually serious with dark, serious and even violent elements under the face of it. These texts even play with deep symbolism (like the character of the Queen with the Victorian queen, Commodity fetishism and Victorian capitalism in the shop where Alice goes, the notion of the “faster” progress in England wherein Alice herself represents as a subject of the state), the character of Alice who also becomes a pawn and ironically tries to become the queen (while even when she becomes the queen, is controlled) draws a deep comparison with the general public who in the scope of uplifting their status, end up being under the illusion of being “liberated” since they are further subject to the control and power which is exercised upon them (even their identity is disregarded and lost, like Alice’s name). Many feelings and/or traits of human nature are also expressed under the cover of fantasy-like jealousy, the assertion of power (in relation to the stature and the differences), want for control, desires and even deception. Hughes also mentions that the critics found themselves to be ill-equipped to deal with fantasy properly, this provides a contrast between the notion of disregarding the children’s text as unimportant when, in this scenario, it is tough for the “intelligent” adults to decipher or even, make attempts to analyse it. Of course, Carrol's work leaves us as stunned as it did the first time we imagined of our ‘wonderland’ (meant to be infinite, free to “wander” and wonder), however, one must also not fail to identify on how it was full of flaws, with the characters being imposing their rules of but the wonderland, it is but a wrong notion that children’s books are not meant for the adult reader, As Hughes further mentions, “The theory of children’s writing has been for some time in a state of confusion” and thus in the continuity of the same remark, perhaps we all are confused by the reality and are unwilling to live in it as how we want to, thus convince and remind ourselves to “Let’s Pretend” …
-Narita
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