"Shaping fantasies": a comparative study of three New Zealand children's authors

Abstract

This thesis compares the works of three New Zealand writers of fantasy for older children. After surveys of the development and status of fantasy writing in general, and recent New Zealand adolescent fantasy in particular, the thesis focuses on the work of Maurice Gee, Margaret Mahy and Sherryl Jordan--all acclaimed authors. Fantasy often involves movement between worlds (this world and the 'other world'), and I have been concerned to distinguish the ways in which these three writers handle the relationship between 'reality' and 'fantasy'. To this end, my earlier chapters describe the other worlds created by each. I begin by identifying those characteristics that make Gee's fantastic planet of O a social documentary on the familiar planet of earth as we know it. My second chapter examines the subtle manner in which Mahy's fantastic dimension emanates from a vividly realistic domestically-centred narrative, while my third chapter shows how (in Rocco) Jordan's two worlds seem initially separate but later blend into one another--as do her psychological and political themes. The following three chapters compare the protagonists of these novels and their actions which constitute the narratives. Thus Chapter Four isolates the classically heroic nature of the female protagonist, Susan. Mahy's heroines (or rather, female heroes) are distinguished by their imaginative capacities which allow them to triumph over familybased stress (Chapter Five). Jordan's heroes are similar to Mahy's, but in a more religious and prophetic mould (Chapter Six). The final chapter compares the (crucial) transitions between worlds as they appear in the chosen texts. This leads to consideration of the concept of the 'frame' and its limitations as an analytical tool - at least in relation to my chosen authors.