Children's Literature - Essay Example

?Do contemporary developments such as digital technologies, crossover fiction, mass marketing and adaptations for films and games expand or challengethe concept of children’s literature? The introduction of digital technologies might have caused large changes in the nature of children’s literature, but what seems to have happened is that it has been enhanced and expanded in traditional forms rather than changed towards something that is more modern and reflective of current political and social dynamics. One of the best examples of this is the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling where traditional British themes are produced as desirable and modernity of the human world is rejected as immaterial. The transformation of children’s literature into film is not a new idea. In this age of branding and commoditization of art, the only way in which to experience literature is through marketing and distribution. Because of the age of consumerism and the development of new technologies for narration, children’s literature has a much higher level of exposure and the various transformations have value on many levels that could not be achieved through solely literary means. In the following paper, the idea of adaptation of children’s books to film is highlighted with reference to other digital adaptations. The paper will show the benefits and consequences of adapting children’s literature into other formats and the revival of children’s literature as it has occurred in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. No single series for children has ever had the impact in the consumer world as Harry Potter. The Harry Potter series began as a very popular book that within its first three books developed the kind of cult following that is usually preserved for films, graphic fiction, and television. Before 1997, the year that Harry Potter was first published; there was a significant decline in the interest for children’s literature. By 2002, the United States publication, Publisher’s Weekly was proclaiming the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st century as a “Golden time for children’s books” (Squires 2009, p. 183). The literary world had changed through the adventures of a boy who had spent his first eleven years of life in the small space of a cupboard. The story of Harry was transformed into a merchandising giant with eight films made from the seven books that told his story. As Harry Potter had penetrated both the adult and the children’s market, he had also promoted vicariously at least seven other authors cited by Squire (2009, p. 183) who were selling to both children and adults. These included Philip Pullman, Jacqueline Wilson as well as American authors Meg Cabot and Lemony Snicket (Daniel Handler). The attraction of adults to these books that had originally been targeted to a children’s market provided a new segment of fantasy in which children and adults could both enjoy the same literary experience. The various forms of literary interpretation transformed into interactive forms including computer games, video and film adaptation, has allowed for a new form of literary awareness (Falconer 2009, p. 364). Without the transformation of the literary into the commercial, the proliferation of children’s literature and the revival in reading would not have occurred. One of the effects of the cross-market penetration of what might considered children’s books is that children’s culture and adult culture are beginning to blur together. In a youth oriented culture the number of cross behaviours that are occurring can somewhat be attributed to this blurring of lines between what is typically children’s behaviours and belief systems and what is usually defined as adult beliefs and behaviours. While there is some backlash from critics about adults reading children’s books, it must be considered that many of the themes in some of the works are dark and mature, further blurring these lines. The way in which children behave in children’s literature as they face adversity is a hybrid between their childhood innocence which brings them solutions that adults may not fathom and bravery and maturity in actions that would rival most adult choices. The role models in these books, such as Harry Potter, provide new boundaries for behaviours that suggest a new way in which to achieve a higher level of nobility and success in life (Falconer 2009, p. 376). Film adaptation creates a whole new level of attraction to the literary works of an author, enhancing the visibility of the text. Where readers will consume as much as possible, those who are less inclined to read will go to see a film that is adapted from a literary work greatly increasing its exposure. The unique advantage of a series that is based on books is that after the first film the increased interest in the rest of the books will inspire film goers to read the books in order to find out what happens next. Cartmel (2009, p. 281) uses the Roaldthe Roalsn be attributed to theh to achieve a higher level of nobilty maturity in actions that would rival most adult choices. Dahl classic Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1963) as an example of a very successful adaptation to film through Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971). However, the problem that emerges is that there is a tendency to emphasize the importance of literature over film. Cartmel (2009, p. 282) discusses the biases that emerge about film in relationship to the way in which critics approach the subject. She uses the examples of Douglas Street’s list of classic books and their film adaptation. She states that what the list does through its wording and linguistic arrangement places or ‘privileges’ text over film as a medium for storytelling (Cartmel 2009, p. 282). The tendency to discuss the importance of text over film is intended to suggest that the value of text has a higher social meaning than film. However, the power that film has had in the marketing of the text and the creation of a larger audience has worked to expand the popularity of the textual work. This may suggest that the power of film should bring it equal to the value that is often attributed to text over film. Cartmel (2009, p. 282) continues to discuss the adaptation of film through the categorization of children’s literature from which film adaptations has been made. These categories are classic, obscure, and popular texts, from which the way in which films are made becomes a part of how the categorization of the books is defined. Cartmel (2009, p. 282) defines classic literature in terms of the number of adaptations. Texts like Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland have been adapted and reconfigured for film on a number of different productions. Texts like the Wizard of Oz and Mary Poppins became better known because of the production of a highly successful film. The company that has produced the most well-known and prolific number of film adaptations is the Walt Disney Company. Texts that receive the ‘Disney treatment’ are almost instantly classic films. What the Walt Disney Company manages to do is ‘usurp the text’ (Cartmel 2009, p. 283). The power of their company as it stands behind productions that are for children takes the power of the literary standing of a novel and turns that into a story and narrative that places the film above the text. Carmel (2009, p. 283) discusses this in terms of “Disney’s visual language” which transforms Grimm’s fairytale of Snow White into Disney’s property by the strength of the branding that is involved in that transformation. The story of Snow White is iconic Disney and a classic in its own right. Films become classics just as texts become classics, but the Grimm version does not occupy the same type of space that the Disney film does at this time. The story of Snow White is now more than a fairytale among many in an anthology of tales. This might be considered a high advantage of the modern use of technology as an enhancement to the literary framework from which the adaptation was created. The complaint that is sometimes made about the transformation of literature to film is in some ways hypocritical to literature’s true past, especially when discussing fairytales. The fairy tales that were committed to text were most often oral tales that had been handed down through generations (Zipes 2009, p. 26). The Grimm brothers might be considered the Disney of their day as they went from place to place transforming the oral traditions to a literary tradition. Their stories committed and transformed the tales into text, the newer medium of the day. History shows that the transformation of oral stories to text preserved the tales for future generations in a more constant form. The emergence of the printing press in the 15th century was the modern technology that first placed these tales into the public taking what belonged to the peasantry and making it a part of polite society (Zipes 2009, p. 27). One of the differences between the Disney treatment of literature and the actual text is that while Disney productions are made child friendly, original fairytales were not intended strictly for children. They were dark with often bloody endings which are not a part of the methods of Disney. It is why there is a colloquialism where the term ‘Disney’ is used to describe something that has been cleaned up and purified, taking its realism away in favour of the happy ending. The original tales were often deeply dark and sometimes terrifying. The tales were based upon the plight of the impoverished and the displacement of the heroes and heroines. Just as Cinderella was part of the nobility who was forced to work and toil as a peasant, the story unfolds as she becomes her ‘true’ self, just as every person in poverty wishes that they could transform. In the oral tradition, the tails were fantasies that fulfilled the dreams of the lower classes (Zipes 2009, p. 27). Modern interpretations also allow for this same dream of a better life to be spread through the fairytales of old. Little girls all over the world look at Snow White, Cinderella, and the Little Mermaid as ideals of behaviour and feminine virtue, their outcomes given to them because of beauty, grace, and endowed status. Hunt (2009, p. 14) writes that at the core fairy tales and children’s literature in general is about power. Adults write books for children in order to have the power to manipulate the way in which they see the world. There is a reader that is implied by the writer, no matter what the nature of the real reader may be as they take up the book. Hunt (2009, p. 14) goes on to discuss how children’s literature is then always didactic in its nature. There is always a discussion about the social health of children’s films as they idealize certain frameworks within societies and often stereotypically diminish other aspects of society that should be held equal. In truth, literature is no different than film in this respect. The health of these kinds of fairy tale dreams is in question, but the effect that has come from the transformation of text to film cannot be faulted any more than the transformation from oral traditions to the written word for creating a more accessible format. Through all of the conversation about the integrity of literature over film and other mediums, the one thing that is often forgotten is that there is a great deal of gender bias and socio-economic stereotyping in children’s books. Squire (2009, p. 188) discusses the way in which children’s books, especially that which is aimed at ages 5-7, is highly gender reinforcing with sparkly, pretty books aimed at girls and more masculine books aimed at boys. The author discusses the Rainbow Magic books that are sparkly and beautiful, which is interpreted as aimed at little girls. The integrity of the literary tradition is not as noble as is often discussed and certainly is not immune from commoditization. Modern literature is highly branded and targeted towards appropriate and sometimes inappropriate markets with the intention of selling books (Squire 2009, 188). Thus, digital media should not be condemned for its commercial nature because even though it is often excused for being commercial, the literary world still depends on economic constraints in order to publish and distribute their works. Art has a price, no matter what the medium. There is no doubt that transforming literature from children’s books into digital formats for video, film, and other forms of narrative expression will effect some change. This occurred when the oral tradition was transformed into literary form. The power struggle that exists in the classes is often reflected in children’s literature with social didactic impressions being relayed from the adult writer to the child. The dynamics of adult pressures on children’s literature can only be reflected in the need to create markets and to brand children’s literature. The truth of the current social structure is that commercialization of literature is necessary, thus its form is not relevant as a way in which to criticize. Access is the important part of literary texts and whether or not it has quality can be judged by the individual product rather than trying to make a claim that textual literature is superior to film adaptation. Each can be judged on their own merits. In the end, the only real claim must be that film and other modern formats of interpreting literary texts can only enhance their existence by creating access and interpretation in order to spread their impact on society. References Cartmel, Deborah. (2009). Screen Classics, in Montgomery, H. and Watson, N. J. (eds) Children’s Literature: Classic Texts and Contemporary Trends, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 281-295. Falconer, Rachel. (2009). Cross-reading and cross-over books, in Montgomery, H. and Watson, N. J. (eds) Children’s Literature: Classic Texts and Contemporary Trends, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 366-379. Flewitt, Rosie. (2009). Reading transformations, in Montgomery, H. and Watson, N. J. (eds) Children’s Literature: Classic Texts and Contemporary Trends, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 352-365. Squire, Clare. (2009). Marketing at the millennium, in Montgomery, H. and Watson, N. J. (eds) Children’s Literature: Classic Texts and Contemporary Trends, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 183-197. Zipes, Jack. (2009). Origins: Fairy tales and folk tales, in Montgomery, H. and Watson, N. J. (eds) Children’s Literature: Classic Texts and Contemporary Trends, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 26-39. Read More