Bachelor’s Thesis in English Literature: The Archetype of the Hero’s Journey in Children’s Literature
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2024-06-15
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en
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This thesis demonstrates that Joseph Campbell’s theory of the hero’s journey provides a foundation for traditional and contemporary children’s stories. The hero’s journey can be traced back thousands of years through the history of storytelling, and by taking a closer look at texts such as the folktale Jack and the Beanstalk and J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan, it will become evident how the pattern has taken root in the tradition of children’s literature as well. Furthermore, Campbell’s theory remains relevant for contemporary storytelling adaptations, as the analysis of more recent texts like Roald Dahl’s James and the Giant Peach, Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland and Angela Carter’s “The Snow Child” shows that the archetype persists through the criticisms that postmodernism and feminism raise. This study hopes to inspire further research on the female hero’s journey.
Keywords: Hero’s Journey, Children’s Literature, Fairy Tales, Joseph Campbell, Carl Jung, Postmodernism, Feminism
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