This thesis examines the translation approach towards the rendering of register in the German children’s novel: Tintenherz by Cornelia Funke (2003) and its translations into Dutch, Hart van Inkt...Show moreThis thesis examines the translation approach towards the rendering of register in the German children’s novel: Tintenherz by Cornelia Funke (2003) and its translations into Dutch, Hart van Inkt translated by Hanneke Beneden and Ab Bertholet, and into English, Inkheart translated by Anthea Bell. A register analysis was carried out on the three novels in two phases: a situational-context analysis and an analysis of the lexicogrammatical realizations of field, tenor and mode. This analysis found that in the Dutch translation the rendering of register was predominantly source-oriented. It furthermore found that the English target text applied more target-oriented renditions of register than the Dutch target text did. However, the overall approach of the English target text was also source-oriented. Thus, this thesis showed that the rendering of register in the Dutch and English translations of Tintenherz was predominantly source-oriented.Show less
Bachelor thesis | Film- en literatuurwetenschap (BA)
closed access
Why do boys seem to prefer the films rather than the books? In this thesis I try to come up with an answer by comparing the representation of gender within two Young Adult books and their...Show moreWhy do boys seem to prefer the films rather than the books? In this thesis I try to come up with an answer by comparing the representation of gender within two Young Adult books and their adaptations (The Hunger Games and Divergent). And analyse the way in which stereotypes are being represented and if these stereotypes are in any way appealing to the young boy or girl reader.Show less
The alteration of representation in young readers’ editions of Nathaniel Philbrick's "In the Heart of the Sea" and Mary Lee Shetterly's "Hidden Figures".
This thesis examines the role of education in the Mysterious Benedict Society series on two levels. On the level of the story, I analyze how the two opposite characters of Nicholas Benedict and...Show moreThis thesis examines the role of education in the Mysterious Benedict Society series on two levels. On the level of the story, I analyze how the two opposite characters of Nicholas Benedict and Ledroptha Curtain function as "educators" in the intradiegetic world. Then, on a second level, I delve into the ways in which the text can "educate" its readers. I place my research in a framework of children's literature theory and criticism, narratology, and a text on education by Jacques Rancière.Show less
Research master thesis | Literary Studies (research) (MA)
open access
The tale of Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie (1860–1937) has found its way to a children's audience despite the tensions it elicits around the idea of childhood. After the novel "The Little White Bird" ...Show moreThe tale of Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie (1860–1937) has found its way to a children's audience despite the tensions it elicits around the idea of childhood. After the novel "The Little White Bird" (1902), where Peter appears for the first time, and its stage adaptation "Peter Pan" (1904), both explicitly intended for adults, Barrie arrived at his final version for children published in 1911, the novel "Peter and Wendy", through a tormented history of reworkings. My research aims at exploring the significance of Barrie’s constant reshaping of the Peter Pan materials in order to recast the story for a young audience. Moreover, I will investigate as to what extent the ambiguity and instability of the Peter Pan fictions have been tamed in its school and cinema adaptations. These adaptations have deployed strategies to counter Barrie’s rebellious attitude against the didacticism and pedagogic expectations which are conventionally associated with children’s literature. As will become clear in the following, Barrie challenged the traditional barriers between adults and children on many points. Nevertheless, Peter Pan has been singled out to become a cultural icon of children’s literature – hence, my central questions: How, exactly, did Peter Pan grow up into a children’s story? What conflicting discourses and ideologies concerning childhood may be seen to inform Barrie’s different versions of the Peter Pan story?Show less
Although the target audience of Philip Pullman’s trilogy His Dark Materials, consisting of Northern Lights (1995), The Subtle Knife (1997) and The Amber Spyglass (2000) might seem to be children...Show moreAlthough the target audience of Philip Pullman’s trilogy His Dark Materials, consisting of Northern Lights (1995), The Subtle Knife (1997) and The Amber Spyglass (2000) might seem to be children and young adult readers, the books have also attracted numerous adult readers. In this fantasy story Pullman addresses important questions regarding issues such as religion, the existence of God and the function of belief, love, and death. But beyond all these controversial and difficult discussions, this thesis argues that the story itself is best understood as permeated by a sense of loss. In each part of the trilogy, a character ends up losing a loved one, be it a parent, child, sibling, daemon or lover. In the final book, the Authority, Pullman’s vague god figure, is also killed off, resulting in a collapse of religion and the Church as an institution. His two young protagonists, Will and Lyra, travel through the world of the dead and eventually free all the souls trapped there, and these souls dissolve into elementary particles and become part of the physical world. This leads to the question of what really happens after we die, if there is no Heaven, and we simply return to the state that we were created from. This idea completely undermines what we are taught by religions such as Christianity and Islam, that there is a life after death and one will go to heaven or hell depending on their actions and choices of this life. Thus, besides a physical loss caused by death, there is also a loss of faith. Finally, this thesis will argue that through his portrayal of religion, death and love in the trilogy, Pullman presents loss as a defining element of life, and this prevalent sense of loss enables him to redefine the meaning and function of religion, death and love in the 21st century, while also putting forward a new myth that might compensate for such losses.Show less
This thesis focuses on the theme of growing up in the novels Peter Pan and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. By analyzing this theme and also by comparing the Walt Disney film adaptations to the...Show moreThis thesis focuses on the theme of growing up in the novels Peter Pan and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. By analyzing this theme and also by comparing the Walt Disney film adaptations to the novels, this thesis will argue that these children’s novels present the reader with contradictory points of view. The theme of growing up which is built into the novels provides the reader with different perspectives. These leave the reader with several questions and uncertainties, which is problematic because it does not fit well with the different functions of children’s literature. Although children’s literature is difficult to define, scholars suggest that it has an entertaining function with educational aspects, which children can use to develop themselves. In the case of Peter Pan and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, this function is neglected in a way; although literature can be ambiguous and raise questions, Peter Pan and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland provide the reader with numerous questions and uncertainties regarding the struggle of growing up. That is why these novels can be considered “impossible” within the field of children’s literature.Show less
