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Facts about children's fiction
FUNTASIA, THE recently concluded drama fest for children, brought to the fore two significant inferences... first, most children are good actors and second and more important, children have taken to the written word all over again. A heartening trend when there are distractions provided by other media.
And that can be traced to a recent phenomenon called Harry Potter, who cast his magical spell on children and adults alike. Fiction for "the finest creatures upon earth" was never the same again, and fantasy once again reigned supreme.
What is it about children's fiction that most books are evergreen to this day? Fantasy. It invokes wonder; it generates suspense and offers a temporary retreat from the mundane and at times harsh reality.
All this and much more was the topic of discussion at a seminar titled "From Alice to Artemis Fowl". Organised by the Madras English Association at the British Council, several aspects of British children's fiction were touched upon.
In her keynote address, Prema Srinivasan, specialist in children's fiction, broadly traced the growth of children's fiction from the 18th century to modern day literature.
She said that children's fiction, as a genre never really took off till Kingsley's classic "Water Babies" and of course, Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland". What made these books special was the way they brought together folk and fantasy, which were once the mainstay of medieval literature.
Till then, works such as Aesop's Fables and Robinson Crusoe were shared by one and all rather than produced exclusively for children. They were "literature of the entire culture", as Ms. Srinivasan pointed out.
She cited several books that have withstood the test of time. There was Beatrix Potter with her Peter Rabbit, James Barrie and Peter Pan, and of course Enid Blyton, whose The Secret Seven and the Famous Five series are still read to this day. J.R.R. Tolkein and his Hobbit series once again banked heavily on fantasy. With technological advances, the 20th century saw the advent of science fiction, which became the order of the day. Till in 1992, J.K.Rowling served some magic potion in the form of Harry Potter. Witches and wizards were back in circuit, and children's fiction which was waging a raging war with television and cinema, got a fresh lease of life.
The papers presented dealt with one aspect of a popular fiction. The search for identity in "Alice in Wonderland", that landmark book which was intended to keep two young girls occupied, the Christian overtones and the age-old theme of good vs. evil in C.S.Lewis' "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe", the childlike fantasy element in Roald Dahl's books, the success of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone", the genesis of "Peter Pan"...
The short talks were interspersed with video clippings of some of the plays staged as part of Funtasia. The children displayed confidence as they brought to life several legendary and fictional characters on stage, which they seemed to have read up well.
The prizes were distributed to the winners — "Alice" A. Pooja (Lady Andal), Varun "Prof Quarril" Warrier (PSBB, K. K. Nagar) and "Mad Hatter" N. Rohit (A.M.M. Matriculation). The schools — PSBB, K.K. Nagar, PSBB, Nungambakkam and Vanavani — too took home their prizes.
Though the seminar was interesting, the presence of more children and their participation might have added to the atmosphere. After all, the seminar was on children's fiction.
But Anand Kumar Raju, secretary, Madras English Association, has plans for a seminar on Comic strips (yes, Superman, Spiderman and Batman), which will be presented by students.
From fantasy fiction to some action. Sounds wonderful, doesn't it?
SAVITHA GAUTAM
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