This study explores constructions and representations of boyhood in selected
historical and recent boys’ school stories through the discourses they represent,
propagate and, at times, subvert. Foucault’s views on discourse form the basis of
the theoretical approach adopted in this study. A literature review on the ideas
distinguishing Foucault’s perceptions of discourse from those of other theorists is
therefore included. Raymond Williams’s differentiation between dominant,
emergent and residual discourses is also demonstrated to be helpful in
understanding and describing the relationships between discourses. The
principles of critical discourse analysis, in particular, facilitated the discussion of
dominant and alternative discourses in the context of the fictional school. A
comparison of the dominant discourses implicit in historical and recent
publications makes it possible to assess ways in which fictional constructions of
boyhood have changed or remained the same over time.
The acknowledged benchmark of traditional boys’ school stories, Thomas
Hughes’s Tom Brown’s Schooldays (1857), and selected school stories by
authors such as Talbot Baines Reed, John Finnemore, Rudyard Kipling, Harold Avery and Frank Richards show that the effect of dominant discourses on the
representation of the protagonists in historical texts of this kind generally
culminate in a replication of an archetypal ideal British schoolboy. This type of
boy is constructed as being characterised by his admirable physical and moral
courage, outstanding athletic prowess, honesty and strict, though cheerful,
adherence to a rigid code of honour that scorns backing down from a fight,
discourages the outward display of emotions and rejects any form of snitching. A
range of additional related texts confirms this tradition and archetype, albeit often
in a more critical portrayal of the British school system of the late nineteenth and
early twentieth century.
The contemporary works selected for detailed discussion are texts published
after 1990 which arguably fall within the ambit of boys’ school stories. The focus
falls on the Harry Potter series (1997-2007) by J.K. Rowling, The War of Jenkins’
Ear (1993) by Michael Morpurgo, and John van de Ruit’s debut novel, Spud: A
Wickedly Funny Novel (2005) and its sequel, Spud – The Madness Continues
(2007).
The findings show that although the recent boys’ school stories by Rowling,
Morpurgo and Van de Ruit frequently include motifs and formulaic elements
which are typical of traditional boys’ school stories within the texts (notably the
motifs of corporal punishment, the fagging system, honesty, courage and the
importance of sporting matches), they do not adhere strictly to the underlying
discursive framework implicit in their historical counterparts. Thus, the study
suggests that the discursive predictability apparent in traditional boys’ school
stories is no longer present in contemporary examples of this genre. Instead, the
findings of this study indicate that contemporary constructions of boyhood in the
context of school are to some extent liberated from the dictates of convention,
and that they have become essentially indeterminate and variable. / Thesis (DLitt)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / English / Unrestricted
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:up/oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/31333 |
| Date | 06 October 2010 |
| Creators | Robertson, Janice |
| Contributors | Noomé, Idette, Smith, Ann L. |
| Publisher | University of Pretoria |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Rights | © 2010, University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. |
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