Psychoanalytic Responses to Children's LiteratureWith the growing emphasis on theory in literary studies, psychoanalytic criticism has taken its place alongside other forms as an important contribution to literary interpretation. Despite its tendency to make readers uncomfortable, it offers insights into human nature, and hence is appropriate in examining a genre such as children's literature. Sixteen chapters in this work explore the psychological subtexts of a number of important children's books, including Carlo Collodi's Pinocchio, Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach, Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows, Louise Fitzhugh's Harriet the Spy, Mark Twain's The Prince and the Pauper, and E.B. White's Charlotte's Web. While most of the analyses deal primarily with the psychological development of characters, some focus on the lives of authors and illustrators, such as Beatrix Potter and Jessie Willcox Smith. Other chapters analyze the various responses that readers have to children's books. Understandable and interesting for both scholars and general readers, this work draws on the ideas of such psychoanalytic theorists as Sigmund Freud, Alice Miller, D.W. Winnicott and Jacques Lacan. |
Contents
2The Mysterious and the Uncanny in Nancy Drew | 23 |
4Narcissism in The Wind in the WillowsMark I West | 45 |
6Pinocchios Journey from the Pleasure Principle | 65 |
8Childhood Fantasies and Frustrations in Maurice Sendaks | 79 |
10GoodEnough Mother HubbardLucy Rollin | 97 |
11Humpty Dumpty and the Anxieties of the Vulnerable | 111 |
12Dream Imagery and the Portrayal of Childhood Anxieties | 119 |
13Repression and Rebellion in the Life and Works | 129 |
14Depictions of the MotherChild Dyad in the Work | 141 |
15Guilt and Shame in Early American Childrens Literature | 151 |
16The Psychological Roots of Anthony Comstocks Campaign | 159 |
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Common terms and phrases
adults ambivalence American analysis anxiety argues artists baby Beatrix Potter become behavior birth cartoons Cassatt censorship characters Charlotte Charlotte's Charlotte's Web chil child childhood children's books Children's Literature Chodorow complex Comstock culture Dahl Dahl's depiction describes desire dime novels Disney Disney's dreams early essay fantasy father fear feelings female Fern Freudian girls Grahame Grinstein Harriet human humor Humpty Dumpty Ida's illustrations infant infantile interpretation Jacob Abbott James Jessie Willcox Smith literary criticism live Lucy Rollin male Mickey Mouse Mickey's Mother Goose mystery Nancy narcissistic Night Kitchen notion nursery rhymes oedipal oedipal complex Old Mother Hubbard parents peach Peter picture books Pinocchio play pleasure principle popular psycho psychoanalytic theory psychological readers reading relationship represents Rollo seems Sendak sense sexual Sigmund Freud story suggests superego Tale tion Toad Toad's Twits uncanny unconscious University Press Wilbur Wild Things Winnicott writing York young Zerbe