World War II, Children's Literature and Aspects of Novel We'll Meet Again We'll Meet Again

122 Pages·2011·0.4 MB·English

by  C Imlah

World War II, Children’s Literature
and Aspects of Novel We’ll Meet Again

An Exegesis

We’ll Meet Again

A Novel

Submitted in fulfilment of the
requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
in the School of Arts.
Faculty of Arts, Griffith University

Cherie Imlah BA (CAE, Adelaide) MA (Qld)

September 2007
ii
Abstract

The submission comprises an exegesis and a creative component. Part 1 of the
exegesis is a research study of children’s literature set in World War II with an
emphasis on Australian children’s novels. Comparisons are made with some United
Kingdom and American children’s literature. Three themes are explored in these
texts: World War II, Nationalism/Racism and Ethnocentrism, and Child Sexuality.
The themes are further explored in Part 2 of the exegesis in relation to the creative
component (my novel for pre-teens with a World War II setting). To my knowledge,
my research has been more extensive than previous Australian studies and its
coverage is relatively comprehensive of the Australian children’s literature available
having World War II themes.

A particular focus of my research is the differences in degree of attention paid to
domestic aspects of World War II. Very few Australian and American novels make
significant reference to the war or its domestic effects. As one would expect, some
United Kingdom children’s novels contain graphic detail of the domestic effect of war
on communities. However, many of the Australian and United Kingdom novels
contain strong elements of the adventure story genre in which the effects of war are
muted. The American novels contain more depth of characterisation and a strong vein
of moralism not found in most of the Australian and United Kingdom books. In this
respect, realism is more apparent in the American stories.
In few of these novels for children is the tragedy of war fully expressed; but those
which contain a deeper insight are successful in their emotive effect, particularly
when realistic modes are employed. Several of these books (including a picture book)
are addressed to very young readers, revealing a sensitivity and insight absent from
the adventure story genre.

Rarely in the researched books is nationalism overtly revealed; however, underlying
more prominent themes of racism and ethnocentrism is a sense of nationalism arising
from the circumstances of war, fuelling racist and ethnocentric attitudes and
behaviour. Critical concepts of ‘Otherness’ and ‘Whiteness’ are discussed in this
exegesis, referring to a variety of theorists, including Morton-Robinson and Stevens.

In discussing child sexuality, authors of children’s literature, Marsden and Blume, are
cited to indicate the degree of censorship inherent in children’s literature, and
particularly in the novels researched. Child sexuality is explored most fully in Part 2
of the exegesis.

The creative product, the novel We’ll Meet Again, is set in Sydney and a coastal town
to the city’s north, during the years 1942-1945. It is a ‘coming of age’ story of a
female character who ages from twelve to fifteen years during the course of the
narrative. The conclusion of her ‘growing up’ journey ends with the end of World
War II in the Pacific, and with her departure from school and her ‘idyllic’ seaside
childhood to be reunited with her family. The child characters in the novel each has a
personal journey which ends with the end of the war.
In Part 2 of the exegesis I explore the theory of the narrator’s voice as expounded by
Barbara Wall in which the essential question to ask of a children’s author is: “To
whom is the novel addressed?” Other aspects of the narrator’s role are examined with
reference to Bal, Rose and Chapleau (referring to the Bahktinian terminology of a
‘dialogical space’ where adult and child may communicate).

Style and content in the novel are discussed with reference to Hunt, Nikolajeva,
Stephens and Hassan relating to third-person narrative, the use of diary inserts and
thought processes providing a direct voice, and the realist mode of historical writing.
The issue of ideology in children’s books is discussed with reference to Stephens,
Hollindale and Myers.

The World War II era is central to the novel. Even though the setting never leaves the
domestic front, all characters are affected by the conflict in which the protagonist and
the other children are separated from parents during the period. The historical content
of the novel is interwoven with headline captions from major Australian newspapers
of the period. Discussion of historical writing makes reference to Stephens and
Nimon.

A racial issue is significant in the creative product as the central protagonist is of
Aboriginal descent. Also an elderly Aboriginal man becomes her mentor in the
formation of her identity, referring to Langton and Bradford in this context. As the
Aboriginal man’s characterisation is based upon a person known to me in childhood,
the issue of ethics and integrity are pursued in the exegesis.
The theme of child sexuality is an important issue in the book as the protagonist deals
with puberty, body image and sexuality. Overt body image and feelings are expressed
in the story, mainly through diary entries. This material challenges prevailing
establishment censorship of children’s literature which proclaims such stories to be
unsuitable for children of twelve years and younger. In the exegesis I explore aspects
of Australian censorship of children’s literature and the concept of ‘Duty of Care’ to
pre-teen readers.

Concepts of innocence, ignorance and child premature sexualisation are discussed
highlighting the hypocrisy of the establishment which, in the child literature domain,
attempts to maintain a rigid concept of childhood innocence while, in other media,
childhood is sexualised and exploited. Theorists Nodelman, Foucault and Pennell are
cited, and studies by the Australia Institute and Williams and Dillon are discussed.
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Contents

Title page i
Abstract ii
Table of contents iii
Acknowledgements iv
Statement of originality v

Exegesis:
World War II, Children’s Literature and
Aspects of Novel We’ll Meet Again 1
Bibliography 99

Creative Product :
We’ll Meet Again: A Novel
iv

Acknowledgements

I wish to thank my supervisor, Assoc. Professor Nigel Krauth for his editing skills in

developing this PhD. Also, my thanks go to Maria Simms for her assistance and

advice in the early years of this PhD.
v

Statement of Originality

This work has not been submitted for a degree or diploma in any university. To the
best of my knowledge and belief, the work contains no material previously published
or written by another person except where due reference is made in the work itself.

Signature ______________________________

Date ______________________________
1
WORLD WAR II, CHILDREN’S LITERATURE AND
ASPECTS OF THE NOVEL, We’ll Meet Again

PART 1 – THE RESEARCH

In order to write my children’s novel, We’ll Meet Again, I undertook a research
project to find other Australian children’s novels with a World War II domestic
setting, and to read a number of United Kingdom and United States children’s books
with similar themes, as a comparative measure. I have located 25 relevant Australian
children’s books set in and published in Australia, written from 1940 to 2004, four of
which are picture books. In what follows, the focus is mainly on novels, but I have
included a brief discussion of picture books of the period as, often, picture books can
convey emotion and subtleties as effectively as children’s novels, sometimes moreso.

Firstly, I looked for themes of World War II domestic life; secondly, I was interested
in racism/nationalism; and, thirdly, I explored the subject of sexuality in children’s
novels. With respect to this third theme, I found that most of the novels I researched
did not refer to sexuality/body image at all, despite many of the protagonists being in
a pre-puberty stage of development. This absence of reality led me to look for
elements of censorship in the writing of children’s books.

My main concern was to find themes in these novels which are similar to those in my
own novel but where several of these themes were not apparent, I excluded those
children’s books set in World War II. However, I thought it was important to include
all early Australian children’s books with which to compare later Australian
children’s novels so that, generally, these early novels were World War II domestic
adventure stories and did not have racism/nationalism or child sexuality/body image
themes, except for Jancy Wins Through (Bracken 1941) which has a
racism/nationalism theme. As a number of them were found amongst rare 1940s
children’s literature archived in the Mitchell Library, Sydney, I considered it useful to
include them for persons who may consult this research.
2
In using the terms ‘children’s literature’ or ‘children’s books’, I am concerned with
books which range through Pre-teen, Young Adolescent and Young Adult age groups.
By the term ‘Pre-teen’ I refer to child readers aged from 10 to 12 years, and by
‘Young Adolescent’ I refer to the age group from 12 to 14 years. For older
adolescents I use the term ‘Young Adult’. My own novel, We’ll Meet Again, does not
precisely fit any of the above categories as it was written for the 11 to 13 years age
group.

Generally, the term ‘children’ is used to refer to young readers under 12 years of age;
however, occasionally, ‘children’s literature’ encompasses all aspects of writing for
young people, i.e. those not considered adult (Nilson 1996: 308). Nimon and Foster
point out: “…new terms have not solved the problem of trying to create subdivisions
within the broad band of children’s literature that are more helpful than they are
difficult to distinguish” (Nimon & Foster 1997: 15). They quote Wheatley who says:

Whether we like it or not, Young Adult is a term that is now being used for
people aged 9 to 30 (though in its library and publishing usage the more
common range would probably be 12 to 21). (Nimon & Foster 1997: 15)

Wheatley also states that primary school libraries reveal that younger children read
titles generally identified as for adolescents. He points to the fact that “The term
‘Young Adult fiction’ further subdivides into books for young and older Adolescents,
and even for those out of their teens and into their twenties.” Further, Wheatley says
that the term ‘crossover’ fiction was used in 1995 in discussion “about books dealing
with the lives of young people who had left school, but which would be read by some
still there” (Nimon & Foster 1997: 15).

Nimon and Foster suggest that :

…the determination of the classification of a book as children’s,
Adolescent, Young Adult or adult book depends ultimately on the reader and
the features which are pre-eminent in his or her reading… [and that] …the
demarcation line between the Adolescent novel and others must be seen as
fluid. (Nimon & Foster 1997: 15)