Of wizards,

vampires and
co.:
Literature for
young readers

Assoz.Prof. Dr.
Susanne Reichl

Milton, Blake and Pullman

The Bible: "how sin came into the world:"

"For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof,

then you eyes shall be opened, and you daemons
shall assume their true forms, and ye shall be as
gods, knowing good and evil." (Northern Lights, 372)

John Milton, Paradise Lost. 1667. "His dark

materials to create more worlds" (II,
11.910-19)
William Blake: "To see the world in a grain of
sand" ("Auguries of Innocence", 1803?)

The adventure story

The beginning of the story usually depicts the young hero in a

minor crisis [...], someUmes because of the death of a parent or a
decline in the family fortunes, the hero leaves home and
undertakes a long and hazardous journey to seek other
relaUons and repair his fortunes elsewhere. [...] The seYngs of
adventure stories are usually unfamiliar and oZen exoUc. [...]
These unusual and dangerous locaUons, as well as adding drama
to the story, oZen act in a quasi-symbolic way to reinforce the
sense of moral obstacles which the young hero struggles to
overcome. [...] Normally the hero survives, and the end of the
story sees him rewarded with wealth and honour. (Dennis Bu_s,
"Shaping boyhood: BriUsh Empire builders and adventurers."
Interna1onal Companion Encyclopedia of Children's Literature.
Vol.1. 2nd ed. Ed. Peter Hunt. London: Routledge, 2004).

The adventure story

Although there is no easily denable line of demarcaUon, we
will assume that an adventure is an event or series of events
that happen outside the ordinary course of the protagonists
life, usually accompanied by danger, oZen by physical acUon.
Adventure stories almost always move quickly, and the pace
of the plot is at least as important as characterizaUon, seYng,
and other elements of a created work. [...] SomeUmes the
adventure is intellectual rather than physical, exposure to a
series of revelaUons that changes how the protagonist thinks
about the world. More oZen there is sharper conict, either
with a human antagonist or a force of nature, or there may be
some other obstacle to be overcome. (D'Ammassa,
Don. Encyclopedia of Adventure Fic1on. Facts on File Library
of World Literature, Infobase Publishing, 2009)

 Classic adventure stories

Defoe, Robinson Crusoe (1719)
Cooper, The Last of the Mohicans (1826)
Twain, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876)
Stevenson, Treasure Island (1883)
Ryder Haggard, King Solomon's Mines (1885)
Wells, The Time Machine (1895)
Conan Doyle, The Hound of the Baskervilles (1902)
London, The Sea Wolf (1904)

Genre and gender

The common convenUon is that masculine wriUng is

acUon-oriented while feminine wriUng is characteroriented; masculine wriUng is focused on external
events and the hero's adventures, while feminine
wriUng is preoccupied with relaUonships and selfreecUon. Typically masculine genres include heroic
fantasy, horror, crime and thriller, science cUon,
war novel, pirate and robber novel, fronUer and
Wild West stories. Typically feminine genres include
love stories, family and domesUc novels. Roughly
dened, the overall masculine genre is adventure
and feminine is romance. (Maria Nikolajeva, Power,
Voice and Subjec1vity in Literature for Young
Readers. New York: Routledge, 2010)

Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a

Thousand Faces, 1949
The usual hero adventure begins with someone
from whom something has been taken, or who
feels there is something lacking in the normal
experience available or permi_ed to the
members of society. The person then takes o
on a series of adventures beyond the ordinary,
either to recover what has been lost or to
discover some life-giving elixir. It's usually a
cycle, a coming and a returning.

Beverley
Naidoo,
Journey to
Jo'burg
(1985)

The children couldn't follow everything the Madam was

saying in English, but her voice sounded annoyed, while
Mma spoke so soZly. Why does the white lady seem
cross with Mma? It's not Mma's fault that Dineo is sick,
Naledi thought.
The children huddled close to Mma's starched white
apron. They hadn't seen her in this strange servant's
uniform before.
[...]Their mother must have been busy cleaning that
aZernoon because glistening plates, of dierent sizes,
cups and saucers and delicate glasses were neatly
stacked close to a large empty cupboard.
Naledi noUced that Mma took the Un plates and mugs for
them from a separate li_le cupboard. While they ate,
Mma quickly got on with her work. (Journey to Jo'Burg,
46-47)

Time travel adventure series for young

readers

recent Ume travel series

Time travel adventure series for young

readers

Time travel adventure series for young

readers

The History Keepers

genres involved
Ume for reecUon?
historical learning
adventure rst, ethics later

the genres of Ume travel

Ume travel as a genre?
genres involved:
science cUon
fantasy (Ume fantasy)
adventure / quest
novels of development / BIldungsroman
historical novels / alternaUve histories
dystopian novels
school stories
love stories / paranormal romances
detecUve / crime cUon

the genres of Ume travel

science c(on:
speculaUve cUon
dened by its tropes (rockets, planets, superweapons rather than castles and dragons)
contains a "novum" (Darko Suvin), cogniUve
estrangement and usually a "competent
character" (John Clute)
Farah Mendlesohn. The Intergalac1c Playground. 2009

the genres of Ume travel

(me fantasy:
Ume travel in fantasy is the same principle as travel into
secondary worlds!
"brings fantasy and science cUon closer to each other
than any other moUf" (Maria Nikolajeva, The Magic Code.
The Use of Magical PaOerns in Fantasy for Children. 1988,
p.64)

the genres of Ume travel

(me fantasy and adventure
"picnic" (Maria Nikolajeva, From Mythic to Linear.
Time in Children's Literature. 2000): characters
usually do not have to suer the consequences of
their acUons
"Ume-out" (John Stephens 1992, quoted in
Nikolajeva 2000): extraordinary adventure
possible without losing Ues to realisUc seYng

The History Keepers: Ume for

reecUon?

At the prow of the Escape, Jake waited paUently.

Gradually he started to discern the faint outline of land,
shrouded in early morning mist. Then, directly ahead,
he spo_ed a faint triangular shape outlined against the
rocky coast. [...] But as he looked more carefully, he
realized that it was an island, [...] He [...] examined the
curious triangle in more detail. [...] She [Topaz] was
eaUng one of Charlie's almond and chocolate
croissants. French people always ate their pastries with
such panache, Jake reected, and Topaz was no
excepUon. Even the simple acUon of catching crumbs
and Upping them into her mouth he found inexplicably
dazzling. As the island conUnued to materialize out of
the mist, Topaz told Jake all about it." (HK1, 81)

At the prow of the Escape, Jake waited pa(ently. Gradually

he started to discern the faint outline of land, shrouded in
early morning mist. Then, directly ahead, he spo_ed a faint
triangular shape outlined against the rocky coast. [...] But as
he looked more carefully, he realized that it was an island,
[...] He [...] examined the curious triangle in more detail.
[...] She [Topaz] was eaUng one of Charlie's almond and
chocolate croissants. French people always ate their
pastries with such panache, Jake reected, and Topaz was
no excepUon. Even the simple acUon of catching crumbs
and Upping them into her mouth he found inexplicably
dazzling. As the island con(nued to materialize out of the
mist, Topaz told Jake all about it." (HK1, 81)

Learning about history:

"You probably always imagined that history was something
that was nished ... done ... in the past?"
"Isn't that the meaning of history?" asked Jake. [...]
"Not at all. History is always evolving. It's not a straight
line, you see; it's a complex, ever-changing structure." (HK
1, 103)

the sea as (meless

"I looked at the horizon from the deck [of a ferry] and realised it
would have looked exactly the same thousands of years ago. In
my story history is a geographical place and everyone moves
about on ships between dierent periods."
(Damien Dibben in Thorpe, "Time travel saga The History Keepers could be the next
Harry Po_er-style blockbuster, Guardian 18 Sept 2011)

"Although Jake was exhausted beyond imagining aZer the
events of the last twenty-four hours, he was determined to stay
awake unUl he had seen some sign that he was indeed breathing
the air of a dierent century." (HK1, 76)

Adventure rst, ethics later?

ethical decisions to be made: breaking the
rules
blind spots
history is as good as it gets

Jake suddenly yearned to sail on that ship to

join the others on their expediUon and help to
nd his parents. [...] Then a noUon took shape in
Jake's head: "I could stow away," he whispered
to himself. "I just have to hide unUl we're far out
to sea. They won't waste Ume bringing me back.
I could persuade them to give me atomium and
take me along."
Jake hated the idea of tricking people, but the
alternaUve was worse.
Damian Dibben. The History Keepers: The Storm Begins. 2012. 127.

Blind spots: gender

"It all sounds ludicrous, I know. And don't ask me to explain the
science of it, I'm useless at it. Jupitus would do a much be_er
job. Or ask Charlie Chieverley he's a real scienUst. It's all to do
with our atoms. They possess this memory of history every
single moment of it." (HK1, 49)


""Ahoy there!" Nathan announced as he pulled himself out of
the water with a beaming smile. He had swum fully clothed
along the coast for over an hour, but looked as if it were the
easiest and most natural thing in the world. He shook out his
long hair and briey checked his appearance in a vanity mirror
produced from his back pocket." (HK1 85)

Blind spots: slavery

"As Jake steered the Conqueror on towards the harbour of
Messina (he was increasingly enjoying navigaUng), he noUced
another ship approaching from the other direcUon, her two
dozen oars moving swiZly and perfectly in Ume. He gaped in awe
as she sped past them, decks teeming with acUvity. [...] At the
stern, under an awning, an imperious-looking couple reclined on
a large velvet divan. An a_endant was fanning them with
peacock feathers." (HK2, 143)

He was overcome rst with pity and then with

anger. "Slaves?" he murmured to himself, and
stopped and stared, jaw clenched, at the potbellied man. When a prospecUve buyer [...]
went to examine the girl's teeth, as if he were
buying a horse, Jake found himself stepping
forward in outrage.
Damian Dibben. The History Keepers: Circus Maximus. 2013. 143.

"History is amazing!" Or is it?

That blue planet had been home to all those
epochs and their glories their art and
learning, their progress and invenUon; their
kings, conquerors and despots. It was a
moment of profound wonder that Jake knew
he would never forget.
Damian Dibben. The History Keepers: Circus Maximus. 2013. 137.

History must not be changed

"[...] once it has happened, we must never try to
change the past. We cannot, and do not, bring
people back from the dead, or stop wars or undo
catastrophes once they have existed. We cannot
and should not stop the Great Fire of London or the
sinking of the Titanic, no ma_er how we feel about
those events. [...] History is sacred. The past may be
li_ered with horrors, but remember, Jake, that
those horrors could be a million Umes worse."

Damian Dibben. The History Keepers: The Storm Begins. 2012. 121.

Image sources
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