Representation and roles of monster characters in recent British children's literature : the case of 'Stop Those Monsters!' by Steve Cole

Date

2018

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Tartu Ülikool

Abstract

This thesis seeks to provide an overview of monster characters in British children’s literature. The literature review is divided into three parts: the first delves into the world of children’s literature, offering a short history from the 18th century up to the 21st, possible definitions and key elements that are usually present in the plot and characters of children’s literature. The second part looks to provide a short overview of monsters in literature, speaking briefly of their history and with the help of David Gilmore (2003) detangling definitions into common elements that can be seen in literary monsters, and attaching these properties to both children’s and adults’ literature in order to draw parallels and describe changes. The third part of the literature review is dedicated solely to monster characters in children’s literature. It involves an explanation of character analysis and discussion of typical characters based on Maria Nikolajeva (2002) and Vladimir Propp (1927) that will be later applied to the case study. In addition, this subchapter provides examples from other British and a couple of times American children’s literature to illustrate different elements and how they are used in practice. The analysis portion of the thesis will concentrate on Stop Those Monsters! by Steve Cole (published 2015) – providing a background for the book, a summary of the plot, a short analysis of what makes it a part of children’s literature, and character analyses of major monsters in the story. The conclusion portion discusses the findings and summarises how the theoretical framework compares to the case study at hand.

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Keywords

inglise, lastekirjandus, koletised

Citation