Dear Internet Braintrust
Feb. 4th, 2011 07:05 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bodlonSo I'm hard at work at my senior capstone project. Right now it looks like I'll be doing something about relation to the real, possibly focusing on changing attitudes about returning to it by time period or gender (possibly tying this in with differences in how Campbell's Hero's Journey breaks down by gender). The five works I'm looking at so far are:
- Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - mid-19th Century, children's book, girl hero enters fantasy world, chooses conventional reality
- J.M. Barrie, Peter and Wendy - pre-WWI, children's book, girl hero enters fantasy world, chooses conventional reality
- Neil Gaiman, Neverwhere - contemporary, adult literature, male adult hero enters fantasy world, chooses it
- Graham, Jordan, and Pharoah, Life on Mars - contemporary, adult program, male adult hero enters fantasy world, chooses it
- Cathrynne Valente, Palimpsest - contemporary, adult literature, ensemble cast enters fantasy world, tries like hell to stay there
The breakdown so far seems to be that prior to postmodernism, these kinds of narratives were about (mostly) girls who have a mad adventure but then come back because they are supposed to, while now we're writing about (mostly) men who "find themselves" while in non-standard reality and stay there. I'm also considering including C.S. Lewis (who wrote the Narnia books between '49 and '54), but I'm not sure I'll have time to reread ALL of the books. He'd be another example of children who come back, but is just outside of the year range. That might suggest that the thread I'm actually looking for is that children come back, grown-ups don't.
So here's my question: is there a book or film you'd include on this list that breaks my theory? Is there a little boy or girl who stays? A grown woman or man who chooses to come back? Which time period? I'm trying to nail down what's happening in these narratives and could use another work or two to really solidify what I'm working on.
- Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - mid-19th Century, children's book, girl hero enters fantasy world, chooses conventional reality
- J.M. Barrie, Peter and Wendy - pre-WWI, children's book, girl hero enters fantasy world, chooses conventional reality
- Neil Gaiman, Neverwhere - contemporary, adult literature, male adult hero enters fantasy world, chooses it
- Graham, Jordan, and Pharoah, Life on Mars - contemporary, adult program, male adult hero enters fantasy world, chooses it
- Cathrynne Valente, Palimpsest - contemporary, adult literature, ensemble cast enters fantasy world, tries like hell to stay there
The breakdown so far seems to be that prior to postmodernism, these kinds of narratives were about (mostly) girls who have a mad adventure but then come back because they are supposed to, while now we're writing about (mostly) men who "find themselves" while in non-standard reality and stay there. I'm also considering including C.S. Lewis (who wrote the Narnia books between '49 and '54), but I'm not sure I'll have time to reread ALL of the books. He'd be another example of children who come back, but is just outside of the year range. That might suggest that the thread I'm actually looking for is that children come back, grown-ups don't.
So here's my question: is there a book or film you'd include on this list that breaks my theory? Is there a little boy or girl who stays? A grown woman or man who chooses to come back? Which time period? I'm trying to nail down what's happening in these narratives and could use another work or two to really solidify what I'm working on.
