Life Journey as Gendered Rites of Passage ----the Use of Journey and the Socializing Nature of Children’s Literature
Keren Zhu
Children’s Literature
Tutorial: AT02 (Monday 10:30-11:15)
Email: waterzhuzhu@gmail.com
Life Journey as Gendered Rites of Passage
----The Use of Journey and the Socializing Nature of Children’s Literature
The plot structure of children’s literature constructed in form of a journey represents the process in which children gain knowledge of the world through exploration, transforms from innocent children to experienced adult. Readers of children’s literature go through rites of passage from childhood to adulthood by identifying themselves with the transformed characters, turning the experience of reading about the journey into a process of socialization. This is manifest in children’s literature’s differentiating approach to depicting male and female protagonists’ journey and its gendered socializing effects on readers. In this essay, by analyzing two of Grimm Brothers’ well-known fairy tales—Little Red Cap and Iron John through compare and contrast, I will demonstrate how life journey gone through by the two protagonists serves as rites of passage for both themselves and the readers, and how the socializing function of children’s literature is illustrated by gendered depiction of their life journey. This essay is divided into two parts. In the first part, I will apply Arnold Van Gennep’s famous theory of rites of passage in analyzing three stages on the journey of growth that the two protagonists go through, and connect it with the nature of children’s literature. In the latter part, I will contrast the journey of the male and female protagonists and show how the gendered journey as rites of passage reinforces gender stereotype and reveal children’s literature as a form of ideological imposition. The plot structures of both stories are constructed in the form of a quest or journey that substantiates the coming of age process of the two protagonists. Journey as a metaphor symbolizes the process in which a child explores the unknown world,
Children’s Literature
Tutorial: AT02 (Monday 10:30-11:15)
Email: waterzhuzhu@gmail.com
Life Journey as Gendered Rites of Passage
----The Use of Journey and the Socializing Nature of Children’s Literature
The plot structure of children’s literature constructed in form of a journey represents the process in which children gain knowledge of the world through exploration, transforms from innocent children to experienced adult. Readers of children’s literature go through rites of passage from childhood to adulthood by identifying themselves with the transformed characters, turning the experience of reading about the journey into a process of socialization. This is manifest in children’s literature’s differentiating approach to depicting male and female protagonists’ journey and its gendered socializing effects on readers. In this essay, by analyzing two of Grimm Brothers’ well-known fairy tales—Little Red Cap and Iron John through compare and contrast, I will demonstrate how life journey gone through by the two protagonists serves as rites of passage for both themselves and the readers, and how the socializing function of children’s literature is illustrated by gendered depiction of their life journey. This essay is divided into two parts. In the first part, I will apply Arnold Van Gennep’s famous theory of rites of passage in analyzing three stages on the journey of growth that the two protagonists go through, and connect it with the nature of children’s literature. In the latter part, I will contrast the journey of the male and female protagonists and show how the gendered journey as rites of passage reinforces gender stereotype and reveal children’s literature as a form of ideological imposition. The plot structures of both stories are constructed in the form of a quest or journey that substantiates the coming of age process of the two protagonists. Journey as a metaphor symbolizes the process in which a child explores the unknown world,
Cited: Arnold van Gennep, The Rites of Passage, London: 1977 Bettelheim, Bruno. The Uses of Enchantment. New York: Vintage, 1977“Little Red Cap”, “Iron John” Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm. Household Tales. Margaret Hunt, translator. London: George Bell, 1884, 1892. 2 volumes.