E-Book Overview
Exploring the way food is used to seduce, pleasure and coerce not only the characters within children's literature, but also its readers, this book tackles a number of gripping questions concerning the quantity and quality of the food featured in children's fiction, such as: why are feasting fantasies so prevalent, especially in the British classics? What exactly is their appeal to historical and contemporary readers? What do literary food events do to readers? Is food the sex of children's literature? The subject of children eating is compelling, but why is it that stories about children being eaten are not only horrifying but also incredibly alluring? Covering timely topics such as childhood obesity and anorexia, and looking at classics texts from "Little Red Riding Hood" to "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe", the author demonstrates how children's literature routinely attempts to regulate childhood eating practices and only award subjectivity and agency to those characters who demonstrate 'normal' appetites. An outstanding and unique enquiry into the function of food in children's literature, this book is a significant contribution to the fields of both children's literature and the growing interdisciplinary domain of food, culture and society.
E-Book Content
VORACIOUS CHILDREN
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VORACIOUS CHILDREN Who Eats Whom in Children’s Literature
Carolyn Daniel
New York London
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Published in 2006 by Routledge Taylor & Francis Group 270 Madison Avenue New York, NY 10016
Published in Great Britain by Routledge Taylor & Francis Group 2 Park Square Milton Park, Abingdon Oxon OX14 4RN
© 2006 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 International Standard Book Number-10: 0-415-97642-1 (Hardcover) International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-415-97642-8 (Hardcover) Library of Congress Card Number 2005030507 No part of this book may be reprinted, reproduced, transmitted, or utilized in any form by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the publishers. Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Daniel, Carolyn. Voracious children : who eats whom in children’s literature / Carolyn Daniel. p. cm. -- (Children’s literature and culture ; v. 39) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-415-97642-1 (acid-free paper) 1. Children’s literature-History and criticism. 2. Food in literature. I. Title. II. Series: Children’s literature and culture ; 39. PN1009.5.F66D36 2005 809’.933559--dc22
2005030507
Visit the Taylor & Francis Web site at http://www.taylorandfrancis.com Taylor & Francis Group is the Academic Division of Informa plc.
and the Routledge Web site at http://www.routledge-ny.com
CONTENTS
Series Editor’s Foreword
vii
Acknowledgments
ix
Introduction
1
1
You Are What You Eat Food and Cultural Identity
13
2
“Have You Been a Good Girl?” Manners and