SOARING WITH DRAGONS: FINDING PLAY AND INTIMACY IN CHILDREN'S AND YOUNG ADULT LITERATURE

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Williams, J. (2016). SOARING WITH DRAGONS: FINDING PLAY AND INTIMACY IN CHILDREN'S AND YOUNG ADULT LITERATURE. Unc Charlotte Electronic Theses And Dissertations.
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Abstract

This thesis examines the way children’s and young adult literature deals with play and intimacy. Using Georges Bataille’s conception of intimacy, this thesis posits that intimacy, deriving from play, allows for a deeper understanding of self and a deeper connection with others. Within children’s and young adult literature, various issues become approachable and relevant. Issues that are inappropriate in other contexts make appearances in literature, offering excellent introductions to these issues. Intimacy offers one such issue, and Christopher Paolini’s Inheritance Cycle imagines intimacy as fostering a deeper connection with other forms of life. Paolini’s novels bring intimacy deriving from play to the foreground, creating a fantastical story of intimacy triumphing over evil. Through examining the Inheritance Cycle, the usefulness of studying play and intimacy in children’s and young adult literature should become apparent. Both play and intimacy offer ways of interacting with the world and others, forming unique bonds. Play does offer a category often studied in relation to children and adolescents, but intimacy does not present a category of study for these groups. Both, though, appear in literature written for these age groups, making both integral categories of scholarly inquiry. As such, intimacy, deriving from play, offers another avenue in understanding the elements found in the books children and young adults read.

Details
Author

Williams, Joshua

Title

SOARING WITH DRAGONS: FINDING PLAY AND INTIMACY IN CHILDREN'S AND YOUNG ADULT LITERATURE

Physical Description

1 online resource (86 pages) : PDF

Date

2016

Degree Granting Institution

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Abstract

This thesis examines the way children’s and young adult literature deals with play and intimacy. Using Georges Bataille’s conception of intimacy, this thesis posits that intimacy, deriving from play, allows for a deeper understanding of self and a deeper connection with others. Within children’s and young adult literature, various issues become approachable and relevant. Issues that are inappropriate in other contexts make appearances in literature, offering excellent introductions to these issues. Intimacy offers one such issue, and Christopher Paolini’s Inheritance Cycle imagines intimacy as fostering a deeper connection with other forms of life. Paolini’s novels bring intimacy deriving from play to the foreground, creating a fantastical story of intimacy triumphing over evil. Through examining the Inheritance Cycle, the usefulness of studying play and intimacy in children’s and young adult literature should become apparent. Both play and intimacy offer ways of interacting with the world and others, forming unique bonds. Play does offer a category often studied in relation to children and adolescents, but intimacy does not present a category of study for these groups. Both, though, appear in literature written for these age groups, making both integral categories of scholarly inquiry. As such, intimacy, deriving from play, offers another avenue in understanding the elements found in the books children and young adults read.

Genre

masters theses

Subjects--Topics

Literature
Philosophy
Philosophy and religion

Degree

M.A.

Keywords

Children's Literature
Georges Bataille
Inheritance Cycle
Intimacy
Play
Young Adult Literature

Subject Area

Religious Studies

Advisor(s)

Robinson, Joanne

Committee Members

Brintnall, Kent
Connolly, Paula

Degree Note

Thesis (M.A.)--University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 2016.

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Rights Holder Information

Copyright is held by the author unless otherwise indicated.

Identifier

Williams_uncc_0694N_11100

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.13093/etd:782