S. Hancock, The Child That Haunts Us. Symbols and Images in Fairytale and Miniature Literature

HANCOCK, Susan, The Child That Haunts Us. Symbols and Images in Fairytale and Miniature Literature, New York, Routledge, 2008, 168 p.

ISBN 978-0-415-44776-8

RÉSUMÉ

The Child That Haunts Us focuses on the symbolic use of thechild archetype through the exploration of miniature characters fromthe realms of children's literature.

Jung argued that the child archetype should never be mistaken forthe ‘real' child. In this book Susan Hancock considers how the child isportrayed in literature and fairytale and explores the suggestion fromJung and Bachelard that the symbolic resonance of the miniature isinversely proportionate to its size.

We encounter many instances where the miniature characters are avisibly vulnerable ‘other', yet often these occur in association withimages of the supernatural, as the desired or feared object of adultimagination. In The Child That Haunts Us it is emphasisedthat the treatment by any society, past or present, of its smallest andmost vulnerable members is truly revealing of the values it reallyholds.

This original and sensitive exploration will be of particularinterest to undergraduate and postgraduate students as well asacademics engaged in Jungian studies, children's literature, childhoodstudies and those with an interest in socio-cultural constructions ofchildhood.

TABLE DES MATIÈRES

Part I. Fairytale Manikins. Nineteenth-Century Female Miniatures. Part II. Odysseys and the Motherland. Post-war Britain and Europe. Suffering Children. Conclusion. Notes. Bibliography. Index.

BIOGRAPHIE

Susan Hancock supervises postgraduate students at the National Centre for Research in Children's Literature, Roehampton University, London. She has worked in the field of Children's Literature studies and children's reading for over ten years, having a particular interest in psychoanalytic criticism. A member of the International Association for Jungian Studies, Susan's recent publications relate to Jungian readings of fantasy fiction.