This dissertation presents a holistic framework for approaching fantastic school stories: that is, narratives which feature the protagonist’s education in magic. This three-part framework attends to the ways in which the fantastic school story subgenre draws upon the characteristics and possibilities of the school story genre, fantastic literature, and representations of education – in which a hidden curriculum is always inherently present – to create unique opportunities for representing and foregrounding issues and structures within educational institutions and the relationship between education and power. Employing this lens allows for a more nuanced and complex consideration of the impact of fantastic elements in these narratives, examining the ways in which such elements exaggerate, embody, or enforce underlying ideologies and norms and offer encouragement to readers to interrogate these aspects of the text and the mundane educational experiences they encounter. This framework is then used to analyse representative texts in the subgenre and explicate the hidden curriculum of each: ideologies of immutable gender and identity in Jane Yolen’s Wizard’s Hall; the use of testing as a gatekeeping measure to reinforce Pureblood supremacy in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series; the prerequisite of economic capital to access education, undermining the myth of post-secondary studies as social mobility, in Patrick Rothfuss’s Kingkiller Chronicles; the violence of imperial educational institutions in Lev Grossman’s Magicians trilogy; and the vocational habitus of witchcraft, including gendered divisions and expectations of personal sacrifice, on the Discworld in Terry Pratchett’s “Tiffany Aching” quintet. This framework and these illustrative analyses, by explicating the structures underlying the protagonists’ education and the ways in which they are thereby limited, participate in the projects of developing an emancipatory approach to children’s literature and in consciousness-raising regarding hidden curricula in education. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Texts in the fantastic school story subgenre – that is, narratives about a young person learning how to use magic, often at a school – are a valuable opportunity to explore the relationship between power and education. Here, I present a three-part approach for reading these texts which looks at how these narratives combine elements of the school story genre, fantasy literature, and representations of education to create a unique format. This unique format makes it easier for readers to see underlying structures and issues in education by making familiar elements feel unfamiliar through the addition of magic. I then use this three-part approach to analyse fantastic school stories by Lev Grossman, Terry Pratchett, Patrick Rothfuss, J.K. Rowling, and Jane Yolen. Reading the texts through this lens brings forward issues related to education like gate-keeping, socioeconomic status, imperialism, and gendered norms and divisions.

This thesis is a development of the theories presented by Carl Jung, Joseph Campbell, and Bruno Bettelheim concerning archetypes, the anima/animus concept, the Hero Cycle, and identity development through fairy tales. I argue that there are vital rites of passage missing in Anglo-Saxon culture, and while bibliotherapy cannot replace them, it can help adolescents synthesize their experiences. The theories of Jung, Campbell, and Bettelheim demonstrate this concept by defining segments of the story and how they apply to the reader. Because of the applicability, readers, despite their age, can use the examples in the book to help reconcile their own experiences and understand life as it relates to them. The works I examine include J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, Orson Scott Card's Alvin Maker series, J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea trilogy, and David Eddings' Belgariad. Though it is impossible to test the effects of reading such works on readers, the possibility of those effects exists. Bettelheim's work, The Uses of Enchantment, discusses similar themes and he provides scientific support through his use of anecdotal evidence. Following his example, I have tried to include evidence from my own life that exemplifies the effect reading epic fantasy has had on me. The aspects of epic fantasy in relation to going through adolescence I examine include the concept of responsibility and its relation to progress and maturity; gaining a social identity; and reconciling oneself to the dark side within and without, in society. These aspects are found within the superstructure of the Hero Cycle and the actions and motivations of the characters—archetypes—within the cycle. They are also present in real life and necessary concepts to understand to be accepted into society as a mature contributor.

This project explores the narrative arcs of strong female characters in Young Adult (YA) fantasy literature. Taking up Rosemary Jackson’s assertion that fantasy literature can ‘subvert patriarchal society,’ this thesis examines the fantasy ‘legacy code’ of strong and subversive female characters who settle into a stereotypical performance of gender after finding fulfillment in the heteronormative roles of lover, wife, and mother. This pattern is exemplified by Lady Éowyn of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Two Towers (1954) and The Return of the King (1955), and reproduced by Hermione Granger of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series – consisting of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (1997), Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (1998), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (1999), Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2000), Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2003), Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2005), and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2007). In contrast Keladry of Mindelan in Tamora Pierce’s Protector of the Small series – consisting of First Test (1999), Page (2000), Squire (2001), and Lady Knight (2002) – demonstrates the impact ‘refactoring’ fantasy ‘legacy code’ has on the narrative conclusions of female characters. Using Judith Butler’s theory on the performative nature of gender and building on Farah Mendlesohn’s computer programming analogy of ‘legacy code,’ this thesis illustrates the ways in which fantasy literature often fails to be the literature of subversion Jackson envisions, and demonstrates how refactoring aspects of a female character’s narrative exemplifies subversive narrative conclusions for young adult readers of fantasy literature. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA) / This thesis examines the ways in which a heteronormative ‘legacy code’ – exemplified by Lady Éowyn in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings – has been perpetuated in literature marketed towards young adult readers by Hermione Granger in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series and ‘refactored’ by Keladry of Mindelan in Tamora Pierce’s Protector of the Small series. Starting with Rosemary Jackson’s analysis of fantasy literature as a genre with subversive potential and with Judith Butler’s assertion that gender is performative, this thesis analyses the narrative arcs of Éowyn, Hermione, and Kel and demonstrates how the continual representation of strong female characters finding fulfillment in the roles of lover, wife, and mother is limiting, and highlights the subversive potential in ‘refactoring’ heteronormative ‘legacy code.’

Trees, as threshold beings, effectively blur the line between the real world and fantastical alternate worlds, and destabilise traditional binary classification systems that distinguish humanity, and Culture, from Nature. Though the presence of trees is often peripheral to the main narrative action, their representation is necessary within the fantasy trope. Their consistent inclusion within fantasy texts of the twentieth century demonstrates an enduring arboreal legacy that cannot be disregarded in its contemporary relevance, whether they are represented individually or in collective forests. The purpose of my dissertation is to conduct a study of various prominent fantasy texts of the twentieth century, including the fantasy works of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Robert Holdstock, Diana Wynne Jones, Natalie Babbitt, and J.K. Rowling. In scrutinising these texts, and drawing on insights offered by liminal, ecocritical, ecofeminist, mythological and psychological theorists, I identify the primary function of trees within fantasy narratives as liminal: what Victor Turner identifies as a ‘betwixt and between’ state (1991:95) where binaries are suspended in favour of embracing potentiality. This liminality is constituted by three central dimensions: the ecological, the mythological, and the psychological. Each dimension informs the relationship between the arboreal as grounded in reality, and represented in fantasy. Trees, as literary and cinematic arboreal totems are positioned within fantasy narratives in such a way as to emphasise an underlying call to bio-conservatorship, to enable a connection to a larger scope of cultural expectation, and to act as a means through which human self-awareness is developed. / English Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (English)